Understanding Hubspot tracking code data collection

The Hubspot tracking code powers much of your website analytics and contact tracking inside Hubspot, so it is important to understand what data it collects, how it behaves, and how cookies and browser storage affect the accuracy of your reports.

What the Hubspot tracking code does on your site

When installed, the Hubspot tracking code runs in your visitors’ browsers and sends activity information back to your Hubspot account. It works across your Hubspot hosted content and any external pages where the JavaScript snippet is added.

At a high level, the tracking script:

• Loads asynchronously in the visitor’s browser.
• Creates and updates tracking cookies and local storage entries.
• Records page views, sessions, and engagement events.
• Associates browser activity with Hubspot contacts when possible.

This behavior lets Hubspot report on traffic sources, page performance, and individual contact timelines.

Types of data collected by the Hubspot tracking code

The tracking script collects technical and behavioral data that can be seen in your Hubspot reports and contact records. The exact data may depend on your subscription level and feature set, but the main categories are consistent.

Page view and session data in Hubspot

Every time a tracked page loads, Hubspot records a page view event. Typical page view data includes:

• URL of the page viewed.
• Title of the page.
• Timestamp of the visit.
• Referrer URL, when available.
• Session identifier derived from cookies or storage.

Using this, Hubspot organizes visits into sessions. A session is generally a series of page views and events from the same browser within a short period of continuous activity. Sessions help you measure:

• Total sessions and session length.
• Pages per session.
• Bounce rate and exit pages.

Engagement and interaction data in Hubspot

Beyond simple page views, the Hubspot tracking code also captures engagement events, such as:

• Form views and form submissions, when embedded with Hubspot tools.
• Click events on tracked elements in some tools.
• CTAs and other tracked assets, if configured in your portal.

These events feed into contact timelines, marketing reports, and automation triggers in Hubspot.

Device and browser information processed by Hubspot

To help with analytics segmentation, Hubspot also collects limited technical details about the visitor’s environment, for example:

• Browser type and version.
• Operating system.
• Device type (desktop, tablet, mobile).
• Approximate location based on IP, when available and allowed.

This information supports performance reporting and can refine marketing targeting within Hubspot.

How Hubspot uses cookies and storage

The tracking code relies on browser storage to recognize returning visitors. Hubspot primarily uses cookies and may also use local storage, depending on the browser and privacy context.

Key Hubspot tracking cookies

While specific cookie names can vary, they generally serve the following purposes:

• Identify unique browsers over time.
• Track sessions and separate visits.
• Store information needed to maintain analytics continuity.

Because Hubspot uses these identifiers, the same browser can be recognized on subsequent visits, even if no form has been submitted yet, as long as cookies are still present and valid.

When cookies are blocked or cleared

The accuracy of tracking depends on whether cookies and storage remain available. You may see gaps or inflated counts in Hubspot analytics when:

• Visitors block third-party or all cookies in their browser settings.
• Visitors use private or incognito mode, which deletes data when the window closes.
• Security software or browser features restrict tracking scripts.
• Users manually clear cookies or local storage.

In these cases, Hubspot might treat returning visitors as new, which can affect metrics like new sessions, new visitors, and attribution.

How Hubspot associates visits with contacts

A major benefit of the Hubspot tracking code is its ability to tie anonymous browsing data to real contacts once they identify themselves.

From anonymous visitor to Hubspot contact

Typically, the association process follows these steps:

1. A visitor lands on a tracked page. Hubspot assigns an anonymous browser tracking identifier.
2. The visitor continues browsing, generating page views and events linked to that identifier.
3. At some point, the visitor submits a Hubspot form or converts via another tracked method that collects an email address or similar identifying field.
4. Hubspot creates or updates a contact record and links the existing browser activity with that record.

After this link is established, future activity from the same browser (and cookie set) is added to the contact’s timeline in Hubspot.

Limitations of contact association in Hubspot

There are several situations where contact association can be incomplete or fragmented:

• The same person uses multiple browsers or devices.
• Cookies are cleared after conversion.
• Forms not connected to Hubspot are used without proper tracking parameters.
• Strict privacy controls prevent storage or tracking.

In these cases, Hubspot may create multiple anonymous sessions or fail to join all activity under one contact record.

Privacy, consent, and Hubspot tracking

Because the tracking code collects data that may be considered personal under certain regulations, you should review how Hubspot tracking fits into your compliance processes.

Managing consent for Hubspot tracking

To align with privacy laws, you may need to customize how the tracking script loads. Common approaches include:

• Showing a cookie banner with an explicit accept or decline option.
• Blocking non-essential cookies and Hubspot tracking until consent is given.
• Providing a clear privacy notice describing Hubspot analytics and data collection.

Your legal team should advise what is appropriate for your region and audience. From a technical perspective, you can adjust when and how the Hubspot tracking code is fired based on consent status.

How to review Hubspot tracking details

You can confirm how data is collected by referencing official documentation from the platform vendor. The source used for this article is the Hubspot knowledge base page on tracking code data collection here: Hubspot tracking code data.

That resource explains the underlying logic in more technical depth, including how individual tracking fields behave over time.

Using Hubspot tracking data for reporting

Once the tracking code is properly installed, you can take advantage of the data it collects throughout Hubspot reporting tools.

Standard analytics powered by Hubspot tracking

Common reports that depend heavily on this data include:

• Traffic analytics by source, medium, and campaign.
• Landing page and blog performance reports.
• Conversion paths, from first touch to final conversion.
• Contact analytics showing how people interact before becoming leads.

Because these rely on the tracking script, any issue with the code or cookies can impact accuracy, so validating the implementation is important.

Improving decisions with Hubspot data

With a solid understanding of how the tracking code works, you can interpret your Hubspot dashboards more accurately and avoid common misreadings, such as:

• Confusing cookie-related anomalies with real traffic spikes.
• Overlooking how privacy settings affect contact attribution.
• Misjudging campaign performance due to missing tracking on key pages.

For additional help with strategy and implementation around analytics and marketing automation, you can consult specialists such as Consultevo, who work extensively with data-driven optimization.

Next steps with Hubspot tracking code

To make the most of your analytics, confirm that the Hubspot tracking code is installed on every important page, understand what data is collected, and review how cookies, sessions, and contact association affect reporting. By pairing accurate tracking with clear consent practices, you ensure that your Hubspot data is both reliable and compliant, giving you a strong foundation for better marketing and sales decisions.

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