AdRoll

Overview

AdRoll (owned by NextRoll, Inc.) is a retargeting and prospecting advertising platform widely used by e-commerce and B2B marketers. It enables advertisers to serve personalized display, native, and social retargeting ads to website visitors who did not convert — across AdRoll's network of publisher partners, and via programmatic channels including Google Display Network and social platforms. AdRoll also offers prospecting campaigns that target new audiences based on behavioral similarity to existing converters.

What This Script Does

The AdRoll pixel script is loaded from d.adroll.com or a.adroll.com. It fires on key advertiser pages and performs audience segmentation, conversion tracking, and cross-network identity sync.

Cookies Set by AdRoll:

• __adroll — primary persistent AdRoll browser identifier, third-party (set under .adroll.com), typically 730 days (2 years); this is the core retargeting cookie that identifies the browser across all AdRoll advertiser sites
• __adroll_fpc — first-party companion cookie, 1 year; mirrors the AdRoll identifier in first-party context for cookieless environment fallback and cross-device matching
• __ar_v4 — persistent visitor data cookie, 1 year; stores audience segment memberships for the current browser (e.g., "viewed product category X", "abandoned cart", "visited pricing page")
• __adroll_consent_params — consent state storage cookie, 1 year; records the visitor's consent choices if AdRoll's consent mode is implemented by the advertiser

Data Collected Per Pixel Fire:

• Page URL and page type (homepage, product page, category, cart, checkout, confirmation — inferred from URL patterns or explicit event configuration)
• Product identifiers and category data if the advertiser implements AdRoll's ecommerce event tracking (addToCart, purchase, productView)
• Conversion value (purchase amount) for ROAS measurement
• Browser metadata: user-agent, screen resolution, timezone, language
• IP address (for geographic targeting and cross-device household matching)
• AdRoll browser ID from __adroll cookie

Audience Segmentation:

• Pixel fires add the browser to advertiser-configured audience segments (e.g., "visited /pricing but not /checkout in last 30 days")
• Segments are transmitted to AdRoll's DSP for targeting in programmatic ad auctions
• AdRoll syncs identifiers with major DSP and data partner networks including LiveRamp, Oracle BlueKai, and The Trade Desk via pixel sync calls to partner domains

IAB TCF Purposes: Purposes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 apply. NextRoll is a registered IAB TCF vendor (Vendor ID 132).

NextRoll, Inc. is a US company (San Francisco). EU data processing via NextRoll Technology Limited (Ireland). Participates in EU-US Data Privacy Framework. GDPR DPA available.

Consent & Compliance

AdRoll is classified as marketing technology. Under GDPR Article 6(1)(a) and Article 5(3) ePrivacy Directive, the persistent cross-site retargeting cookie (__adroll, 730-day lifetime), the audience segmentation cookies, and the cross-network ID syncing require explicit prior consent. AdRoll's core function — tracking individual users across websites to serve personalized follow-up ads — is precisely the processing that EU data protection authorities have consistently required consent for, with the German DSK, French CNIL, and Belgian APD all issuing guidance that retargeting constitutes processing that cannot rely on legitimate interest. Under CCPA/CPRA, AdRoll's cross-site behavioral tracking and sharing of audience segments with DSP partners constitutes "sharing" of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising under Cal. Civ. Code §1798.140(ah), triggering mandatory opt-out mechanisms.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. AdRoll is a retargeting platform whose entire operational model depends on persistent cross-site tracking and audience profiling. Its two-year retargeting cookie and cross-network ID sync must be blocked until explicit marketing consent is granted.