Does Google Analytics Use Cookies?
Yes, Google Analytics uses cookies to collect data about how users interact with your website. These small text files act as a memory for your site, enabling Google Analytics to distinguish between different users and track repeat visits. This article will explain exactly which cookies Google Analytics uses, why they are necessary, and what you need to do to use them while respecting user privacy.
What Exactly Is a Cookie?
Before we go any further, let's quickly demystify what a website cookie is. Imagine you go to an event and get a wristband. That wristband identifies you for the duration of the event, letting you re-enter without showing your ID again. A cookie is a digital version of that wristband.
It’s a tiny text file that a website stores on your browser. When you return to that site, your browser sends the cookie back, letting the website know you’ve been there before. This allows websites to remember things like:
Your login status
Items in your shopping cart
Your language or location preferences
And, in the case of Google Analytics, whether you're a new or returning visitor
There are two main types that are important for this discussion: first-party and third-party cookies. We’ll cover the difference in a bit, but for now, just know that Google Analytics mainly relies on first-party cookies, which are set by your own website’s domain.
Why Google Analytics Can't Work Without Cookies
Google Analytics provides powerful insights by measuring user interactions on your website. Without cookies, this measurement would be nearly impossible. The internet is inherently "stateless," meaning each time you load a webpage, the server treats it as a brand-new, unrelated request. Cookies add the "state" or memory needed to connect those individual pageviews into a coherent user journey.
Here’s what cookies make possible for GA:
Distinguishing Between Users: A cookie assigns a unique, anonymous ID to each user. This lets GA count the number of unique visitors, not just the number of times a page was loaded. Without it, every pageview would look like it came from a brand new person.
Identifying Returning Visitors: When a user comes back to your site, Google Analytics reads their cookie ID and recognizes them as a "returning visitor." This data is vital for understanding customer loyalty and the effectiveness of your marketing channels at bringing people back.
Tracking User Sessions: Cookies help group a series of pageviews, events, and a user's interactions during a single "session." GA can then report on metrics like session duration, pages per session, and bounce rate.
Remembering Traffic Sources: How did a user find your site? Was it through a Google search, a social media link, or a direct visit? Cookies help store this information, so you can attribute conversions and traffic to the correct marketing channels.
The Different Cookies Used by Google Analytics
The specific cookies used depend on which version of Google Analytics you have installed. The older version, Universal Analytics (UA), and the current version, Google Analytics 4, use slightly different sets of cookies.
Universal Analytics (UA or GA3) Cookies
Even though Universal Analytics stopped processing new data in July 2023, many websites might still have older tracking code lingering. The most common cookies set by UA were:
_gaThis is the primary cookie for distinguishing users. It stores a randomly generated Client ID that uniquely and anonymously identifies a browser. It has a default expiration of 2 years, which resets with each visit.
_gidThis cookie also distinguishes users but has a much shorter lifespan. Its primary purpose is to count and track users on a daily basis. It expires in 24 hours.
_gatThis one doesn't store any user information. Instead, it’s used to "throttle" the rate of requests sent to Google's servers. If your website has very high traffic, this cookie helps ensure data is collected efficiently without overloading the system. It expires in just 1 minute.
gacThis cookie is created when you link your Google Analytics and Google Ads accounts. It stores campaign-related information to help you measure the effectiveness of your ad clicks in leading to conversions on your site. It expires in 90 days.
Google Analytics 4 Cookies
Google Analytics 4 streamlined its cookie usage and relies on an event-based data model that is designed to be more flexible in a cookieless world. However, it still uses first-party cookies by default.
gaThis is the main cookie used by GA4. It stores and updates a unique identifier for a user and is used to maintain the session state and distinguish unique users. It defaults to a 2-year expiration, which is updated with each interaction.
_gaGA4 may also set this cookie for client-side identification. While it's largely being replaced by the cookie with the container-ID in its name, it can still be used to maintain user and session identifiers across page loads, ensuring that subsequent interactions are attributed to the correct user.
You’ll notice that GA4 simplified things quite a bit. Its data collection model is more about tracking specific events (like page_view, scroll, click) rather than just sessions and pageviews, making it less dependent on multiple types of cookies.
First-Party vs. Third-Party Cookies: A Crucial Distinction
This is where many people get confused, and it’s an important point for privacy. Google Analytics sets first-party cookies.
First-Party Cookies: Are set by the website domain that you are currently visiting. In this case,
yourwebsite.com. They are generally considered acceptable as they help with the core functionality and user experience of that site.Third-Party Cookies: Are set by a domain other than the one you are visiting. These are typically used by advertisers to track your browsing activity across many different websites to build a profile for targeted ads.
Browsers like Apple's Safari and Firefox have been aggressively blocking third-party cookies for years, and Google Chrome is phasing them out. Because Google Analytics uses first-party cookies, it has not been directly affected by this crackdown. However, this doesn't mean you can ignore privacy regulations.
Cookies, Consent, and Privacy Laws (What You Need to Do)
Even though GA cookies are first-party and don’t collect personally identifiable information (PII) like names or emails, they are still subject to privacy laws like GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California. These regulations consider identifiers like a Client ID to be personal data, which means you need to get a user’s explicit consent before placing any analytics cookies on their browser.
Ignoring this can lead to significant fines. Here are the must-do steps to ensure your use of Google Analytics is compliant:
1. Get Explicit User Consent
You need to implement a cookie consent banner or pop-up on your website. This banner should:
Clearly state that your website uses cookies for analytics and other purposes.
Provide clear options for the user to "Accept All," "Reject All," or customize their preferences.
Link to your detailed Cookie Policy or Privacy Policy.
Most importantly: Not fire the Google Analytics tracking script until the user gives their consent.
2. Create a Clear Cookie Policy
Your website must have a publicly accessible Cookie Policy (or a section within your Privacy Policy) that details:
What cookies are and why you use them.
A list of the specific cookies your site deploys (e.g.,
_ga,_ga_<container-id>).The purpose of each cookie (e.g., "to distinguish unique users").
The duration of each cookie (e.g., "expires in 2 years").
Instructions on how users can manage or withdraw their consent.
3. Configure Google Analytics to Respect Consent
Just having a banner isn't enough, your website's technology needs to respect the user's choice. This is where tools called Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) come in handy. These tools integrate with your site and Google Analytics to automatically block or allow tracking scripts based on user consent.
Google has also introduced "Consent Mode," a feature in GA4 that allows you to adjust how Google's tags behave based on the consent status of your users, using anonymous pings to model data for users who have not given full consent.
The Analytics Future: Is It Cookieless?
With increasing privacy controls, the writing is on the wall: the future of web analytics will be less reliant on cookies. Google knows this, which is why GA4 was built from the ground up to operate in a world with or without them.
GA4 uses machine learning and statistical modeling to fill in the data gaps left by users who decline cookies. This "behavioral modeling" can predict the actions of non-consenting users based on the behavior of similar consenting users. It helps you get a more complete picture of your website performance while still respecting user privacy choices. This means that even as technology changes, you can still get valuable insights into your website traffic and user engagement.
Final Thoughts
So, yes, Google Analytics absolutely uses cookies, they are the fundamental mechanism that allows the tool to measure user journeys and differentiate between visitors. But as a website owner, your responsibility is to use this powerful tool transparently and ethically, which means getting clear user consent before any data collection begins.
Understanding all this data, from consent rates to campaign performance, can often feel like a full-time job. Instead of wrestling with reports across a dozen different tools, our goal at Graphed is to make data simple. We let you connect sources like Google Analytics, your ad platforms, and your CRM in one place, then use plain English to ask questions and get instant dashboards and reports. It’s the fastest way to turn your data into decisions, without getting bogged down in the technical details.