Will HubSpot track sessions if users decline or ignore the cookie banner?

[AMarsden4]

We're using the HubSpot integration for GTM and GA4. We also have HubSpot cookie banners, one of which is an opt-in banner that will only place cookies when users explicity accept cookies.

I found this article:

https://knowledge.hubspot.com/reports/why-do-hubspot-and-google-analytics-not-match#cookie-consent-b...

That seems to be pretty explicit in saying that HubSpot will still count views if users decline or ignore opt-in banners. It does mention that session numbers can be affected, but I want to clarify:

Does HubSpot still track sessions (i.e. does the Sessions number increase in reports) on users who decline or ignore the opt-in cookie banner?

I messaged HubSpot support about this, and they said:

"...it could affect the number of sessions and views tracked....if a visitor doesn't opt-into cookies on the Cookie Banner we won't be able to save the cookie in their browser that tracks sessions and every new page they visit will start a new session."

But that seems very strange. If a good portion of users decline or ignore the cookie banner, sessions will be tracked on every new page view for those users? Wouldn't that mean session numbers would be very inflated in reports? Sessions would become some amalgum of real sessions and pseudo "Views."

Just trying to get more information on this. Any help is appreciated.

[PamCotton]

Hey @AMarsden4, thank you for posting in our Community!

To clarify, if users decline or ignore the opt-in cookie banner in HubSpot, tracking may be affected because HubSpot won't store cookies to maintain session data across pages. This can result in each new page view being tracked as a separate session for those users, potentially inflating session counts in reports. Essentially, session numbers could become a mix of actual sessions and individual page views that are treated as new sessions, especially if a significant number of users decline or ignore the cookie banner. This behavior aligns with what you've read in the documentation and HubSpot support’s response.

I hope this helps,

Pam

[AMarsden4]

Hey Pam,

Thanks for the clarification. Is there any way to get around this? It feels like this kind of negates the usefulness of the "Sessions" count in HubSpot. Should we just rely on another tool like Google Analytics to see real Sessions and use HubSpot for things like Views?

Aaron