Open a typical news website and you are loading not just the articles — you are also loading 15, 20, sometimes 30 or more hidden tracking scripts that report your behaviour to advertising networks, analytics platforms and data brokers. Most people have no idea this is happening.
A website tracker checker reveals exactly what is running on any page. Here is how to use one, what the results mean and what you can do about the trackers you find.
What Trackers Are Running on Websites?
Modern websites typically run several categories of tracking scripts simultaneously:
Analytics trackers — Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Mixpanel and similar tools count visitors, measure time on site, and track which pages users visit. These are relatively benign but still share your behaviour data with third parties.
Advertising pixels — The Facebook Pixel, Google Ads conversion tracking, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag and dozens of others build profiles for ad targeting. These are the most privacy-invasive trackers and typically fire on every page view.
Heatmap and session recording tools — Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, FullStory and similar tools record your mouse movements, scrolling behaviour and keystrokes in real time. These tools can capture form inputs and sensitive data if not carefully configured.
Retargeting platforms — Criteo, DoubleClick, Outbrain and similar networks track which products you view so they can serve you ads for those products across other websites.
Social widgets — Embedded Twitter/X widgets, Facebook share buttons and LinkedIn follow buttons load scripts from those platforms even if you never click them, allowing them to track your visit.
How to Check What Trackers Are on a Website
The fastest method is our free Tracker & Pixel Scanner. Enter any URL and get a complete breakdown of trackers in seconds — grouped by category with the matched signature for each one.
For deeper analysis, browser developer tools give you a complete picture. Open DevTools (F12), go to the Network tab, reload the page, then filter by "tracking" or search for specific domains like "facebook.net", "googletagmanager" or "hotjar". You will see every request being made, including to tracker domains.
Browser extensions also work well. uBlock Origin shows a count of blocked elements in its icon. Ghostery shows a detailed list of trackers detected on each page. Privacy Badger highlights which trackers it has learned to block based on cross-site tracking behaviour.
What the Results Tell You
When you scan a site, the number of trackers is less important than their categories. A site with 10 analytics tools is very different from one with 5 advertising pixels — the former is measuring its own audience; the latter is sending your data to five different ad networks.
The most concerning combinations are:
- Multiple advertising pixels from competing networks — your data is going to many separate data brokers
- Session recording tools alongside advertising pixels — your detailed behaviour data is being shared with ad networks
- Trackers firing without a cookie consent banner — on EU sites, this is likely a GDPR violation
How to Block Trackers
uBlock Origin is the most effective free option. It blocks most trackers by default using regularly updated filter lists. It is available for all major browsers. Install it once and it runs silently in the background.
Brave browser has tracker blocking built in with no extensions needed. Its Shields feature blocks cross-site trackers, fingerprinting and most advertising pixels by default.
Firefox with Enhanced Tracking Protection on Strict mode blocks most known trackers without any extensions.
DNS-level blocking with NextDNS or Pi-hole blocks tracker domains for all apps on your network — including mobile apps, smart TV apps and anything else that cannot use browser extensions.
Check Any Site Now
Use our free Tracker Scanner to see exactly what is running on any website — your own site, a competitor, a news site you read regularly. You might be surprised by what you find. For sites you own, use the results to audit your own tracking setup and ensure you are only running what you actually need.
