Pulsepoint

Overview

PulsePoint is a healthcare-focused programmatic advertising and content distribution platform that connects pharmaceutical brands, health systems, and wellness advertisers with relevant audiences across health-content websites. The platform operates a health-specific supply-side network and offers demand-side tools for programmatic buying, native content distribution, and prescription-lift measurement. PulsePoint is used by pharma brands, health agencies, and specialty health publishers.

What This Script Does

PulsePoint deploys JavaScript tags on both publisher (supply side) and advertiser (demand side) websites.

On publisher/health content sites:

• The tag.js script (loaded from tag.contextweb.com) initializes the PulsePoint ad serving layer, making ad slot inventory available to demand-side buyers
• Sets the mako_uid cookie (third-party, 365-day expiry) to assign a persistent pseudonymous user identifier for frequency capping and audience segmentation
• Reads page content signals and URL metadata to build contextual health topic classifications (e.g., cardiology, oncology, diabetes) used for contextual ad targeting
• Calls the PulsePoint ad auction endpoint to request a winning creative for each ad slot

On advertiser/conversion sites:

• Fires a conversion pixel (typically a 1x1 transparent GIF or JS beacon to pixel.contextweb.com) on confirmation or thank-you pages
• Transmits conversion event data — including campaign ID, order value, and user identifiers derived from the mako_uid cookie — back to PulsePoint for attribution reporting
• May set or read the cwbh cookie (third-party, 365-day expiry) for cross-site click attribution

Health data sensitivity:

PulsePoint's contextual classification engine infers health interests from page content. A visitor reading articles about a specific condition could be classified into a health audience segment. Under GDPR Article 9, data that reveals health status is special category data — contextual inference based on health content visits may trigger this protection depending on the specific data linkage.

Consent & Compliance

• Category: Marketing / Advertising
• IAB TCF Purposes: Purpose 1 (Store/access information), Purpose 2 (Basic ads), Purpose 3 (Personalized ads), Purpose 4 (Ad measurement), Purpose 7 (Ad performance measurement) — requires vendor consent under TCF
• GDPR: Requires explicit consent. Health-contextual targeting may involve inferred health data under Article 9, making extra caution warranted beyond standard ad tracking.
• CCPA: Conversion tracking and audience targeting constitute personal information collection. Health-related targeting triggers sensitivity requirements under CPRA.
• ePrivacy: Sets persistent third-party cookies for cross-site identification. Consent required before any script load.
• EU-US transfers: PulsePoint (a Ziff Davis company) is a US entity. Data transfers rely on Standard Contractual Clauses.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. PulsePoint is an advertising platform whose health-contextual targeting raises the stakes beyond standard ad tracking. The sensitivity of health interest data makes prior consent especially important. Block all PulsePoint scripts until explicit marketing consent is granted.