I Hate Cookie Consent
Comments on “I Hate Cookie Consent”
Claim-checked. Scored by all three judges, and its checkable claims were compared with the sources it cites. How far stories are checked
CipherCue loaded 13,712 websites, mostly European, in fresh Chrome profiles from one German IP and touched nothing. Of 6,955 sites showing a consent banner, 1,662 (23.9%) had advertising requests sent or identifier cookies set while the banner was unanswered. Meta and Google Ads led. On 815 Cookiebot sites recording marketing consent as false, 260 still tracked. The figures come from one homepage load per site, and the firm's own checks lowered the headline from 28.5% after classifier errors were fixed. Several figures lack independent sourcing.
Why it ranked
No. 8 of 124 with a score of 0.72. The panel rated it highest on substantiated (0.92) and new information (0.88), lowest on significance (0.65).
Every answer behind this is in the table under Score.
Score
0.72total under rubric v2.2
- Significance0.65
- Reader interest0.83
- Audience breadth0.68
- Practical relevance0.80
- Substantiated0.92
- Technical depth0.77
- New information0.88
- Counts against: Promotional0.08
- Counts against: Overclaim0.22
Each judge’s answer per question (0–1), their mean and spread, and what the question adds to the score (weight × mean).
| Question | Judge 1 | Judge 2 | Judge 3 | Mean | Spread | Weight | Contribution (weight times mean) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Significance | 0.62 | 0.60 | 0.72 | 0.65 | 0.12 | +0.24 | +0.155 |
| Reader interest | 0.73 | 0.85 | 0.90 | 0.83 | 0.17 | +0.26 | +0.215 |
| Audience breadth | 0.63 | 0.70 | 0.70 | 0.68 | 0.07 | +0.13 | +0.088 |
| Practical relevance | 0.93 | 0.70 | 0.78 | 0.80 | 0.23 | +0.22 | +0.177 |
| Substantiated | 0.99 | 0.85 | 0.93 | 0.92 | 0.14 | +0.05 | +0.046 |
| Technical depth | 0.99 | 0.60 | 0.72 | 0.77 | 0.39 | +0.05 | +0.039 |
| New information | 0.81 | 0.90 | 0.94 | 0.88 | 0.13 | +0.05 | +0.044 |
| Promotional | 0.06 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.04 | −0.19 | −0.015 |
| Overclaim | 0.30 | 0.25 | 0.12 | 0.22 | 0.18 | −0.11 | −0.025 |
| Sum of contributions | +0.724 | ||||||
| Claim-check penalty | 0.000 | ||||||
| Total, as published | 0.724 | ||||||
Spread is the highest minus the lowest judge answer. marks a spread above 0.40: the judges disagree, and the story is marked contested.
The badge for this ranking, for the author's page or anyone's: one line of HTML, and it links back here.
<a href="https://rubric.hrih.si/editions/2026-10-27/8/"><img src="https://rubric.hrih.si/badge/2026-10-27/8.svg" alt="Ranked #8 on Rubric, 27 Oct 2026" width="238" height="28"></a>Claim check
Claim check: 3 matches source · 3 no source given · 2 couldn’t check. Each claim is compared with the source the article itself cites; a flag is published only when both checkers agree.
No source givenNumber
On 1,662 of 6,955 websites showing a cookie consent banner (24%), advertising tracking was active before the visitor clicked anything.
The article gives no link or citation for it.
The article says “24% of websites showing a cookie consent banner had advertising tracking active before the visitor clicked anything: 1,662 of 6,955 sites”
The source says No source to compare with.
Couldn’t checkFirst, only or fastest
Across the sample of 13,712 websites, OpenAI is ninth among ad vendors firing before consent, well behind Meta and Google Ads.
The source was unreachable, paywalled or too long, or the two checkers disagreed.
The article says “Across a random sample of 13,712 websites, OpenAI is ninth on the list of ad vendors firing early, well behind Meta and Google Ads”
The source says No passage could be compared.
Source cited by the article: ciphercue.com/blog/openai-chatgpt-ad-pixel-european-shops
No source givenNumber
On 815 sites with a visible Cookiebot banner reporting marketing consent as false, advertising tracking was active anyway on 260 (32%).
The article gives no link or citation for it.
The article says “On 815 sites with a visible Cookiebot banner, Cookiebot reported marketing consent as false. On 260 of those (32%), advertising tracking was active anyway”
The source says No source to compare with.
No source givenNumber
The median first advertising request went out 1.8 seconds after the browser requested the page, with three-quarters within 2.6 seconds.
The article gives no link or citation for it.
The article says “the median first advertising request went out after 1.8 seconds, and three-quarters within 2.6 seconds”
The source says No source to compare with.
Couldn’t checkDate
On 21 October 2026 the Council of the EU agreed its negotiating mandate, which strikes out Article 88b, the provision requiring websites to honour a browser-set consent choice.
The source was unreachable, paywalled or too long, or the two checkers disagreed.
The article says “On 21 October 2026 the Council of the EU agreed its negotiating mandate, and that provision (Article 88b in the proposal) is struck out of it”
The source says No passage could be compared.
Source cited by the article: consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/10/21/digital-rulebook-council-agrees-position-to-simplify-data-protection-privacy-and-cyber-reporting-rules
Matches sourceNumber
In September 2025 France's CNIL fined the operator of shein.com 150 million euros because advertising cookies were placed before any interaction with the banner.
The cited source says the same thing.
The article says “In September 2025 France's CNIL fined the operator of shein.com 150 million euros because advertising cookies were placed the moment visitors arrived”
The source says “On 1st September 2025, the CNIL imposed a fine of 150 million euros on INFINITE STYLES SERVICES CO. LIMITED, the Irish subsidiary of the SHEIN group”
Source cited by the article: cnil.fr/en/cookies-placed-without-consent-shein-fined-150-million-euros-cnil
Matches sourceNumber
In November 2025 CNIL fined American Express 1.5 million euros for cookies placed before any choice and after a refusal.
The cited source says the same thing.
The article says “In November 2025 it fined American Express 1.5 million euros for cookies placed before any choice and after a refusal”
The source says “On 27th November 2025, the CNIL sanctioned AMERICAN EXPRESS CARTE FRANCE, the French subsidiary of the AMERICAN EXPRESS group, with a fine of €1.5 million for non-compliance with the rules…”
Source cited by the article: cnil.fr/en/cookies-american-express-fined-eu15-million-cnil
Matches sourceNumber
Since 5 February 2026 the UK ICO can fine up to 17.5 million pounds or 4% of global turnover for PECR breaches, up from 500,000 pounds, under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
The cited source says the same thing.
The article says “since 5 February 2026 the ICO can fine up to 17.5 million pounds or 4% of global turnover for breaches of PECR”
The source says “The Act provides the ICO with new powers, including the ability to compel witnesses to attend interviews, request technical reports, and issue fines of up to £17.5 million or 4%…”
Source cited by the article: ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2026/02/statement-on-the-commencement-of-the-data-use-and-access-act-duaa
Also covered by
No other coverage was clustered with this story.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere: HN 14 pts, not on front page
Recorded for context only, checked 27 Oct 2026, 05:46 UTC. It played no part in the ranking.