Is consent required for Reddit Ads tracking?

Yes. Reddit Ads tracking sets _rdt_uuid (90-day first-party identifier) and transmits behavioral data to Reddit's advertising servers. It constitutes cross-context behavioral advertising under CCPA and non-essential cookie storage under GDPR ePrivacy, requiring explicit opt-in.

What does Reddit Ads tracking collect?

Reddit Ads loads scripts from ads.reddit.com or alb.reddit.com, setting _rdt_uuid (90-day persistent visitor ID). It captures page URLs, referrer, user agent, conversion events (page views, purchases, sign-ups), and visitor identifiers transmitted to Reddit's advertising servers.

How does ConsentStack block Reddit Ads?

ConsentStack classifies Reddit Ads as marketing. All tracking scripts are withheld until the visitor grants marketing consent. ConsentStack prevents _rdt_uuid from being set pre-consent, blocking cross-session audience matching until the visitor explicitly opts in.

Reddit Ads - Campaign Attribution Consent Guide

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Overview

Reddit Ads enables advertisers to run promoted posts, display ads, and video ads across Reddit's platform. The advertiser-side tracking component deploys scripts on advertiser websites to collect behavioral signals, match website visitors to Reddit user profiles, and measure whether Reddit ad exposure drives conversions on the advertiser's site. Reddit Ads tracking is part of Reddit's growing advertising business, which leverages Reddit's unique community and interest-based audience data.

What This Script Does

Reddit Ads tracking loads scripts from Reddit's advertising infrastructure to collect attribution and audience data.

Scripts loaded: Reddit's ad tracking script loads from ads.reddit.com or alb.reddit.com, initializing the tracking client on the advertiser's page
Cookies set:
- _rdt_uuid — First-party cookie (90-day expiry). Reddit's persistent visitor identifier for cross-session attribution and audience building.
- Additional session cookies for correlating page views within a single visit.
Data collected: Page URLs, referrer information, browser user agent, conversion events (page views, purchases, sign-ups), and visitor identifiers. The tracking script transmits this data to Reddit's advertising servers for attribution modeling.
Audience matching: Reddit attempts to match website visitors to Reddit user accounts using cookie identifiers and probabilistic signals, enabling interest-based targeting derived from the visitor's Reddit community participation.
Retargeting: Visitor identifiers collected by the tracking script feed custom audience lists that advertisers use to retarget website visitors with Reddit ads.

Consent & Compliance

Reddit Ads tracking falls under the marketing consent category.

Under GDPR and ePrivacy, Reddit Ads tracking requires explicit opt-in consent. The _rdt_uuid cookie is a persistent identifier used for advertising attribution, constituting non-essential cookie storage under the ePrivacy Directive. The matching of website visitors to Reddit user profiles for interest-based targeting constitutes personal data processing for advertising under GDPR.

Under CCPA/CPRA, the transmission of visitor identifiers and behavioral data to Reddit for advertising constitutes "sharing" of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Advertisers must support opt-out mechanisms.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. Reddit Ads tracking sets persistent identification cookies, transmits behavioral data to Reddit's advertising platform, and builds retargeting audiences. Block all Reddit Ads tracking scripts until the user grants marketing consent.

Is Reddit Ads GDPR compliant?

Reddit Ads typically loads marketing 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 Reddit Ads 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 Reddit Ads, not on Reddit Ads itself.

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