What is the test_cookie cookie?
This cookie is set by Google to determine whether the website visitor's browser is configured to support and accept cookies.
Table of Contents
About test_cookie
| Vendor | |
|---|---|
| Cookie Domain | doubleclick.net |
| Category Category The functional category of the technology, such as Web Analytics or Social Media. Learn more | Data Management (DMP) |
| Consent Category Consent Category The consent category this cookie most commonly falls under across sites we scan, normalized into four standard categories. Learn more | Targeting & Advertising |
| Prevalence | Very Common |
| Popularity Popularity Popularity is calculated from our dataset of 4.5B+ cookies analyzed across hundreds of millions of web pages. Learn more | Found on 23.6% of scanned pages |
| Expiration Type | Timestamp |
| Party Type Party Type Whether the cookie is first-party or third-party. Learn more | 3rd-Party |
| Risk Level Risk Level Rates how sensitive the data stored by this cookie is (High, Medium, or Low) based on data classification and distribution. Learn more | Low |
| Vendor Privacy Policy | https://policies.google.com/privacy |
| Vendor Website | https://www.google.com |
What is the purpose of test_cookie?
The test_cookie is a functional cookie used by various Google marketing products, including Google Ads, Campaign Manager, Google Ad Manager, Google Analytics, Display & Video 360, and Search Ads 360. It is set on the doubleclick.net domain (DoubleClick was acquired by Google in 2008). The primary purpose of this cookie is to simply check and verify if the user's web browser is configured to accept and store cookies. It does not carry any unique identifiers or track user behavior, but rather serves as a prerequisite technical check (its observed value is CheckForPermission) before other advertising or measurement cookies are deployed.
What are the Privacy Risks of test_cookie?
Risk Level: Low
This cookie is assigned a Low risk level because it functions purely as a technical check to determine browser capabilities. It does not contain personally identifiable information (PII), pseudonymous identifiers, or behavioral data, and it cannot be used on its own for cross-site tracking or user profiling. Its lifespan is also very short (15 minutes).
How to Remove test_cookie from a Website
To remove the test_cookie, website administrators must remove the associated Google advertising and measurement tags (such as Google Ads remarketing tags, Floodlight counters, or Google Ad Manager scripts) from the website's source code or tag management system. Since this cookie acts as a fundamental capability check for Google's advertising tools, it cannot be disabled independently via configuration settings while keeping the underlying tags active. Complete removal requires fully uninstalling the Google advertising services that initiate the cookie.