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Study · published 27 October 2026 · CC BY 4.0

We checked 168 European shops.
Half of those with a banner tracked shoppers without their OK.

showed a cookie banner
153of 168showed a cookie banner
tracked before a choice, after Reject or after a change of mind
52%80 of 153tracked before a choice, after Reject or after a change of mind
kept tracking after the shopper clicked Reject
26%40 of 153kept tracking after the shopper clicked Reject
had no problem at all
9of 168had no problem at all

Most common problems

Shops out of 168

  1. Cookies kept too long125
  2. Tracking before a choice69
  3. No easy way to change your mind48
  4. Tracking after Reject40
  5. Reject harder than Accept32
  6. No withdrawal button32
  7. No Reject on the first layer30

Trackers seen before any choice

Shops where each sent data first

  1. Google Ads / DoubleClick29
  2. Microsoft Clarity25
  3. Google Ads conversion24
  4. Meta Pixel19
  5. Google Analytics18
  6. Pinterest Tag14
  7. TikTok Pixel14

Grades

Average score 69 out of 100

Key findings

Five sentences you can quote. Every number comes from the latest scan of each shop between 19 and 26 October 2026.

  1. 01153 of 168 European online shops showed a cookie banner when we visited as a new shopper.
  2. 0280 of those 153 shops (52%) tracked visitors before a choice, after Reject or after a change of mind.
  3. 0340 shops (26% of those with a banner) kept tracking after the shopper clicked Reject.
  4. 04Google Ads / DoubleClick was the tracker most often active before any choice, on 29 shops.
  5. 05All 162 shops we could check for accessibility had at least one WCAG 2.2 AA issue. Faint text was the most common, on 100.

Does the consent tool make a difference?

Share of shops using each tool that had the problem. Small groups (under 10 shops) can swing a lot.

Results by consent tool, latest scan per shop: shops and share with each problem
Consent toolShopsTracked before a choiceKept tracking after RejectAny serious problem
Custom or not identified6237%(23 of 62)18%(11 of 62)44%(27 of 62)
OneTrust3946%(18 of 39)18%(7 of 39)49%(19 of 39)
Usercentrics2326%(6 of 23)17%(4 of 23)48%(11 of 23)
Cookiebot2025%(5 of 20)15%(3 of 20)45%(9 of 20)
Didomi956%(5 of 9)56%(5 of 9)67%(6 of 9)
Shopify Privacy863%(5 of 8)63%(5 of 8)75%(6 of 8)
iubenda4100%(4 of 4)50%(2 of 4)100%(4 of 4)
Axeptio3100%(3 of 3)100%(3 of 3)100%(3 of 3)

Trackers that kept going after Reject

Shops out of the 40 where Reject didn’t stop tracking

  1. Microsoft Clarity18
  2. Klaviyo9
  3. Meta Pixel8
  4. TikTok Pixel7
  5. Google Ads conversion7
  6. Microsoft Ads (UET)6
  7. Google Ads / DoubleClick5
  8. Pinterest Tag5

Accessibility: all 162 shops had issues

Shops out of 162 checked against WCAG 2.2 AA

  1. Text too faint against its background100
  2. Links have no text88
  3. Tap targets too small86
  4. Text cut off when made bigger84
  5. Buttons have no name59
  6. Can’t see keyboard focus57
  7. Can’t reach with the keyboard55
  8. Images have no text alternative50

How we ran it

  1. 1We picked 168 shops that sell in Europe, from big brands to independents. We left out our own test sites, news sites, parked domains and bot checks.
  2. 2Each shop was opened as a new visitor with no cookies, on up to 6 pages. Visits came from the United Kingdom (64), the Netherlands (52), France (44), Spain (8).
  3. 3We tested Reject, Accept and a change of mind, each in a fresh browser. A tracker counts when it sends data. Consent Mode “denied” pings don’t count.
  4. 4Accessibility was checked with the automatic WCAG 2.2 A and AA rules on the pages we could reach.
  5. 5We used the latest scan of each shop between 19 and 26 October 2026, and publish aggregates only.

What it can’t tell you

  • A scan is one visit on one day. Shops change their setup, and some banners load differently on a second visit.
  • Visits came from the United Kingdom (64), the Netherlands (52), France (44), Spain (8). None came from Germany, and some banners differ by country.
  • Shops behind bot protection were left out, so very large shops are under-represented.
  • We don’t name any shop. Findings are patterns, not a list of offenders, and not legal advice.

Cite this study

untick (2026). Cookie consent and accessibility in 168 European online shops. Published 27 October 2026. Licensed CC BY 4.0. untick.io/research/european-online-shops-2026

Free to reuse with credit. Journalists and researchers can ask us for the query we used.

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