First-party tracking
Also known as: first-party data collection, own-domain tracking
First-party tracking means the shop collects visitor events on a domain it owns, such as a subdomain of its own shop, instead of sending them to a shared vendor domain. Blockers and browsers treat the two differently: a request to the shop's own domain is part of the site, not a third party.
Why do ad blockers not block first-party requests?
Blockers work largely from lists of known third-party domains. A vendor domain used by thousands of shops ends up on those lists; a subdomain of one shop does not. The request also stays within the site the visitor chose to open, which is the distinction browsers themselves draw.
Is first-party tracking the same as a first-party cookie?
Related but not identical. A first-party cookie is set by the site the visitor is on; first-party tracking is the wider practice of collecting on your own domain. Safari still limits how long some first-party cookies survive, which is why collection alone does not solve attribution.
What does first-party tracking still not solve?
It does not extend how long a browser remembers someone, and it does not create consent. wesaw pairs it with server-side reporting so that a sale the shop legitimately records still reaches the ad platform, rather than trying to make the browser remember longer than it will.
Sources
- Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention caps script-written first-party cookies at seven days, and at 24 hours when the visit arrived through a link with tracking parameters.WebKit
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