Adobe Target

Overview

Adobe Target is the personalization and experimentation engine within Adobe Experience Cloud, used by enterprise websites to run A/B tests, multivariate tests, and rules-based content personalization. When present on a site, it evaluates each visitor against audience segments and testing activities, dynamically swapping page content, hero images, calls to action, and product recommendations before the page renders. Most deployments load via at.js or through the Adobe Experience Platform Web SDK (alloy.js).

What This Script Does

Adobe Target loads the at.js library (or piggybacks on alloy.js when using the Web SDK approach). On page load, it makes a request to Adobe's edge servers to retrieve "mbox" decisions — the personalized content or experiment variant assigned to the visitor.

Key cookies set:

• mbox — first-party cookie storing the visitor's Target session ID and activity/experience assignments. Expires after 2 years by default, with a 30-minute sliding session window.
• at_check — a temporary cookie (session duration) used to verify that the browser supports cookies.
• mboxEdgeCluster — records which Adobe edge cluster is serving the visitor for consistent routing. Session-scoped.

When integrated with Adobe Experience Cloud Identity Service, the AMCV_ cookie (set by the Visitor ID service, VisitorAPI.js) is also used to identify visitors across Adobe products. This cookie has a 2-year expiry and contains the Marketing Cloud Visitor ID (MCID).

Target contacts *.tt.omtrdc.net endpoints to fetch personalization decisions. It also communicates with dpm.demdex.net when audience sharing with Adobe Audience Manager is enabled. The script collects page URL, referrer, screen resolution, browser metadata, and custom "mbox parameters" configured by the site operator. Conversion events (clicks, form submissions, purchases) are sent back for experiment reporting.

Content flicker is managed via a pre-hiding snippet that temporarily hides the page body or specific containers until Target returns its decisions, preventing visitors from seeing the default content before the personalized version loads.

Consent & Compliance

Adobe Target spans both analytics and marketing categories. Its A/B testing functionality collects analytics data (variant assignments, conversion metrics), while its personalization capabilities make marketing-oriented content decisions based on visitor profiles and segments.

Under the GDPR, Adobe Target processes personal data including pseudonymous visitor IDs, behavioral signals, and IP addresses (transmitted to Adobe's servers). A lawful basis — typically explicit consent — is required before loading the script, as the data processing goes beyond what is strictly necessary to deliver the service requested by the user.

The ePrivacy Directive requires consent before setting non-essential cookies. The mbox cookie (2-year expiry, used for experiment assignment and visitor identification) is not strictly necessary for the website's core functionality, so prior consent is required in EU jurisdictions.

Under CCPA/CPRA, the visitor IDs and behavioral data collected by Target may constitute "personal information." If the site operator uses Target data for cross-context behavioral advertising or shares it with Adobe's broader ecosystem, this may qualify as a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information, requiring an opt-out mechanism.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. Adobe Target sets long-lived identification cookies, transmits behavioral data to Adobe's servers, and its personalization features serve marketing purposes. It is not essential for basic website functionality and requires consent under both GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive before loading.