Overview
Cookie-syncing and identity resolution domain operated by Beeswax, a DSP acquired by Comcast in December 2020 and integrated into FreeWheel's advertising stack. Historically operated by Beeswax as an independent programmatic bidder, bidr.io frequently appears in tag audits without the website operator having deployed it directly. Arrives via programmatic ad supply chains (commonly chained from Ozone and other publisher SSPs), header bidding wrappers, and third-party pixels, synchronising user identifiers across multiple advertising platforms. One of the most commonly flagged third-party tracking domains in European cookie audits, and a strong indicator that the organisation's ad supply chain requires closer governance scrutiny.
Detection capabilities
- Signature count
- 1
- Detection methods
- network
- Property types
- hostnamepathname
Consent Mode v2
Consent Mode v2
Google Consent Mode v2 signal requirements for this tag.
analytics_storagenot usedad_storagerequiredad_user_datarequiredad_personalizationrequiredPerformance impact
Performance Impact
- Requests per page
- 1
Common mistakes
- 1Not being aware that bidr.io cookies and requests are present on the website because they were introduced through programmatic supply chain partners rather than direct deployment
- 2Failing to block bidr.io cookie syncing before advertising consent is obtained, as header bidding scripts may load Bidr as a secondary dependency without explicit tag manager configuration
- 3Not including bidr.io in the cookie declaration because it appears as an unfamiliar third-party domain that is difficult to attribute to a specific vendor
- 4Assuming that blocking the primary advertising tag is sufficient when Bidr's cookie syncing may persist through other supply chain paths
- 5Not assessing the scope of cross-platform identity resolution performed by Bidr, which links user identifiers across multiple advertising platforms
Compliance considerations
Bidr (Beeswax / Comcast FreeWheel) sets third-party cookies and performs cross-platform cookie synchronisation that constitutes personal data processing under GDPR, requiring explicit advertising consent. The cookie syncing process shares user identifiers across multiple advertising platforms, which amplifies the privacy impact. Bidr's presence on a website often indicates broader programmatic supply chain exposure that should be audited comprehensively. Under the ePrivacy Directive, third-party cookie syncing clearly requires consent. Organisations should audit their programmatic advertising stack for Bidr domains, ensure all supply chain partners are covered by the CMP advertising consent category, and include bidr.io in their cookie declaration. Comcast (FreeWheel) processes data in the United States and should be assessed against EU-US Data Privacy Framework requirements. Where Bidr is chained downstream from another vendor (e.g. Ozone publisher consortium), the upstream controller should be asked to disclose Beeswax/FreeWheel in their sub-processor lists so that DPIA, DPA and Cookie Notice coverage reflects the full data flow.
Related services
Scan your site for bidr
Run a free ConsentMark scan to see how bidr is loading on your site, whether it respects consent, and where governance gaps exist across your wider tag estate.
Start a free scan