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Chartbeat

Chartbeat

Real-time content analytics platform designed for editorial teams at media and news sites. Tracks active time on page, scroll depth, concurrent visitors, and traffic sources in real time. The tracking script sends frequent pings to Chartbeat's servers to power live dashboards used by editors to monitor story performance.

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Overview

Chartbeat is a real-time content analytics platform designed for editorial teams at media and news organizations. It provides live dashboards showing story performance, reader engagement, and traffic patterns.

What This Script Does

The Chartbeat tracking script measures active time on page (not just page views), scroll depth, concurrent visitors, and traffic sources in real time. It sends frequent "ping" requests to Chartbeat's servers (typically every 15 seconds) to update live dashboards. The script identifies returning visitors using cookies and tracks engaged reading behavior—distinguishing between users who are actively reading and those who have the tab open in the background.

Consent & Compliance

Consent category: Analytics

Chartbeat is a content analytics tool. Under GDPR, the visitor identification cookies and behavioral tracking (active time, scroll depth) require opt-in consent. Chartbeat offers consent-mode configurations that reduce data collection before consent is granted. Under ePrivacy, the first-party cookies set for visitor identification require consent. Under CCPA, the behavioral data collection may require disclosure.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. Chartbeat tracks individual reader engagement behavior. Block until analytics consent is granted.

Is Chartbeat GDPR compliant?

Chartbeat typically loads marketing and analytics trackers, which are not strictly necessary for your site to work. Under the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, non-essential cookies and trackers must stay blocked until a visitor gives clear opt-in consent. So Chartbeat can be fully GDPR compliant, but only if your site holds its scripts until consent is granted and lets visitors decline just as easily. Compliance depends on how your site loads Chartbeat, not on Chartbeat itself.

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Consent Categories

Analytics

Also Known As

chartbeat analyticsreal-time content analyticseditorial analyticspublisher analyticschartbeat trackingmedia analytics

Industries

Computers Electronics and Technology

Tracked Domains (2)

Chartbeat's trackers are occasionally seen, seen on about 1% of the sites ConsentStack has scanned. Scan your own site to see which of these are firing before consent.

chartbeat.comMarketing

chartbeat.com is a marketing domain operated by Chartbeat, used to serve ads, build audiences, and measure ad conversions. Seen on about 1% of scanned sites.

chartbeat.netMarketing

chartbeat.net is a marketing domain operated by Chartbeat, used to serve ads, build audiences, and measure ad conversions. Seen on about 1% of scanned sites.

Cookies Chartbeat Sets (2)

_chartbeat2

Chartbeat visitor identifier and engagement metrics.

_cb

Chartbeat session token used to dedupe page-view counts.

Frequently Asked Questions

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ConsentStack automatically detects and manages Chartbeat trackers so your site stays compliant with global privacy regulations.

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