Does Vidyard require consent before the video player loads?

Conditional. Basic playback is functional, but Vidyard's VidyardGUID persistent cookie and CRM integration are marketing activities requiring explicit consent. If playback and tracking cannot be separated, gate the entire player behind marketing consent. Vidyard's consent-aware mode can serve a tracking-free player until consent is given.

What cookies does Vidyard set and what viewer data does it collect?

Vidyard sets VidyardGUID (one-year viewer identifier for CRM matching), VidyardSession (current session tracker), and a 30-minute deduplication cookie. It records watch events at 5% intervals, pause, seek, replay, and drop-off points. Known viewers are matched to CRM contact records and sales reps receive real-time notifications.

How does ConsentStack manage Vidyard in a consent framework?

ConsentStack classifies Vidyard under marketing and functional. It blocks the tracking layer until marketing consent is granted. If Vidyard's consent-aware mode is enabled, ConsentStack serves the video player without the VidyardGUID cookie until consent is given, letting visitors watch content before deciding on marketing consent.

What tracker domains does Vidyard use?

ConsentStack has catalogued tracker domains for Vidyard including play.vidyard.com and js.vidyard.com. These are the network destinations Vidyard's scripts contact, which a consent platform blocks until a visitor agrees.

Vidyard - Sales Video Tracking & Consent Classification

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Overview

Vidyard is a video hosting and sales intelligence platform founded in 2011 and headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It is purpose-built for B2B sales and marketing teams, offering video hosting, personalised video messaging, and detailed viewer analytics with CRM integration. Unlike general video platforms, Vidyard's primary value proposition is identifying individual viewers by name and linking their watch behaviour to CRM records — enabling sales representatives to see exactly who watched a video, for how long, and what actions they took after viewing. Vidyard is integrated with Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Eloqua, and Outreach.

What This Script Does

The Vidyard embed script loads from embed.vidyard.com and renders an HTML5 video player on the host page. The player fetches video assets from Vidyard's CDN and establishes tracking for the viewing session.

Cookies and identifiers set:

VidyardGUID — Primary viewer identifier; third-party cookie set in the vidyard.com iframe context; expiry 1 year. This is the key identifier used to link anonymous viewing sessions and, when a viewer is identified, to merge their watch history with their CRM contact record.
VidyardSession — Session-scoped companion tracking the current viewing session; expires at session end.
vy_vvd — View deduplication cookie preventing a single viewing session from being counted multiple times; expiry 30 minutes.
First-party cookies may also be set on the host domain when Vidyard's first-party data mode is configured.

Script filenames and CDN: player.js loaded from embed.vidyard.com. Video assets served from cdn.vidyard.com and Fastly-backed delivery endpoints. Analytics events stream to play.vidyard.com/analytics/.

Per-viewer data collected:

Play initiated, pause, seek, and replay events with precise timestamp offsets
Watch percentage checkpoints (every 5% of total duration)
Total watch time and replay frequency
Viewer drop-off point and last frame watched
Call-to-action interactions within the video (in-video forms, CTA buttons, gated content gates)
Device type, browser, operating system, and screen resolution
IP address (used for geolocation enrichment)
Referrer URL and page context

CRM integration and viewer identification: When a visitor's email address is known (through a previous Vidyard form gate, Marketo form, or HubSpot cookie match), Vidyard merges the VidyardGUID with the CRM contact record. Sales reps receive real-time notifications when a known contact watches a video, and the full viewing history appears in the CRM timeline. This "known viewer" identification is the core marketing use case.

Consent & Compliance

Vidyard is classified under marketing and functional categories. Video playback is functional, but Vidyard's per-viewer tracking, persistent VidyardGUID identifier, and CRM integration are marketing activities that process personal data under GDPR. Under GDPR Article 6(1)(a) and the ePrivacy Directive, the VidyardGUID tracking cookie and viewer identification require explicit prior consent when used for marketing analytics and sales outreach. IAB TCF Purpose 1 (Store/access device) and Purpose 7 (Measure content performance) are relevant. Under CCPA/CPRA, the linking of viewing behaviour to named CRM contacts constitutes personal information processing for commercial purposes. Vidyard as a Canadian company is subject to PIPEDA and additionally provides GDPR-compliant data processing agreements and SCCs for EU data transfers.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Conditional. Basic video playback is functional, but Vidyard's persistent viewer identifier and CRM integration are marketing activities. If you can separate playback from tracking (using Vidyard's consent-aware mode), block the tracking layer until marketing consent is granted. Otherwise, gate the entire player behind marketing consent.

Is Vidyard GDPR compliant?

Vidyard typically loads functional and 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 Vidyard 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 Vidyard, not on Vidyard itself.

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