Pinterest Tag

Overview

Pinterest Tag is a JavaScript tracking pixel that serves as the foundation of Pinterest's advertising measurement infrastructure. It is the primary script that websites install to enable Pinterest conversion tracking, audience building, and campaign analytics. Nearly every website running Pinterest ad campaigns will have the Pinterest Tag deployed across their pages.

What This Script Does

The Pinterest Tag loads from s.pinimg.com/ct/core.js and initializes with the advertiser's unique tag ID. Once loaded, it fires on every page view and tracks a comprehensive set of user interactions. The tag uses the pintrk global function for event tracking.

On initialization, the tag:

1. Sets tracking cookies for persistent user identification:

   • _pin_unauth — anonymous visitor identifier; 1-year expiry; tracks users across all websites with the Pinterest Tag, even if they have no Pinterest account
   • _pinterest_ct_ua — user agent tracking cookie for device-level analytics
   • _epik — enhanced match identifier for first-party conversion attribution; 1-year expiry
   • _derived_epik — derived enhanced match cookie for additional attribution matching

2. Fires a PageVisit event automatically, recording the page URL, referrer, and page metadata

3. Listens for custom events configured by the advertiser:

   • checkout — purchase completed (with value, order ID, product IDs)
   • addtocart — product added to cart (with product details)
   • signup — user registration completed
   • lead — lead form submitted
   • search — search performed (with search query)
   • viewcategory — category page viewed
   • custom — any custom-defined event

4. Enhanced matching — When configured, the tag collects hashed email addresses and other customer identifiers to improve conversion attribution rates by matching website visitors to Pinterest users

All event data is sent to ct.pinterest.com via pixel requests. The data package includes the event type, event metadata, Pinterest tracking cookies, page context, and any enhanced match parameters.

The Pinterest Tag enables three core advertising features:

• Conversion tracking — Measuring which promoted pin campaigns drive website actions
• Audience building — Creating retargeting audiences based on website behavior (visited specific pages, added to cart, purchased)
• Actalike audiences — Pinterest's equivalent of lookalike audiences, built from Tag data to find new users who resemble existing customers

Consent & Compliance

Pinterest Tag is classified as marketing. It is an advertising measurement and audience building tool with no functional purpose for the website visitor.

Under the GDPR, the Pinterest Tag requires explicit consent before loading. It processes personal data extensively — tracking cookies, browsing behavior, purchase events, potentially hashed email addresses — for advertising purposes. The _pin_unauth cookie's ability to track users who have no Pinterest account across multiple websites makes the consent requirement especially clear. Legitimate interest cannot justify this scope of cross-site advertising tracking.

Under the ePrivacy Directive, the Pinterest Tag sets multiple cookies for advertising purposes that are entirely unrelated to any service the user has requested. Article 5(3) requires prior informed consent. The 1-year expiry on the primary tracking cookies further demonstrates that these are not transient, session-based storage but persistent advertising identifiers.

Under CCPA/CPRA, the Pinterest Tag constitutes both sharing and potentially selling personal information for advertising. The cross-site tracking via _pin_unauth, the enhanced matching with hashed email addresses, and the audience building for ad targeting all fall under CPRA's definition of sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising. Websites must provide "Do Not Sell or Share" opt-out and honor GPC signals.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. The Pinterest Tag is a marketing tracker that fires on every page load, sets year-long tracking cookies (including for users without Pinterest accounts), collects detailed browsing and purchase behavior, and enables advertising audience building. It must be blocked until the user explicitly consents to marketing tracking. This is one of the most aggressive social platform tracking tags in terms of anonymous user identification.