Does your website use third-party services? Get GDPR compliant in minutes.
Try FlowConsentFree plan · 10-min setup
snigel AdEngine is a header bidding and programmatic advertising platform operated by Snigel Web Services Limited from Dublin, Ireland. It is widely used by independent publishers to monetise inventory through Prebid based auctions across dozens of SSPs and DSPs. Because the wrapper drops third party cookies, syncs identifiers with the wider programmatic chain and forwards data to advertising vendors that mostly process data in the United States, snigel AdEngine is a high risk advertising tracker under the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.
snigel AdEngine is a managed header bidding wrapper and ad operations platform operated by Snigel Web Services Limited in Dublin. It is positioned as a turnkey programmatic monetisation product for independent publishers, with a Prebid.js based wrapper, dynamic floor pricing, viewability optimisation and integrations with dozens of SSPs (Magnite, Index Exchange, OpenX, PubMatic, Xandr, Criteo and others).
The snigel AdEngine wrapper drops third party cookies on its operator domains, exchanges identifiers with each demand partner during the auction and reads the IAB TCF consent string set by the publisher CMP. It captures viewability metrics, ad slot size, page URL, IP address and user agent and sends them to the snigel reporting backend. Demand partners then make their own cookie and identifier choices based on the consent signal forwarded to them.
Header bidding cookies fall under Article 5(3) ePrivacy. Cross site advertising profiling falls under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. The CNIL, the Irish DPC and the Belgian APD have issued repeated decisions stating that legitimate interest is not admissible for IAB TCF based programmatic advertising. The publisher remains the controller for the data collected on the site and shares responsibility for the transparency given to visitors.
Get GDPR compliant in 10 minutes
Free plan available · No credit card required
snigel AdEngine must be tag blocked until explicit, granular opt in consent has been collected through your CMP. The IAB TCF v2.2 string must be forwarded to snigel and to its demand partners with the snigel vendor ID. Visitors must be able to refuse with the same effort as accepting and to revoke their consent at any time. Without consent, snigel must operate in non personalised mode if available, or be disabled.
Snigel itself is established in the EU. The vast majority of demand partners are US headquartered and process data in the United States. EU customers must rely on the EU/US Data Privacy Framework certifications of those partners and on Standard Contractual Clauses where DPF does not apply. A transfer impact assessment is required for the partner list.
Sign the snigel DPA, integrate the snigel TCF v2.2 vendor ID in your CMP, document a transfer impact assessment for the demand partner list, restrict the partner list to vendors with DPF certification or signed SCC, list snigel and the demand partners in the privacy and cookie policies and review the configuration at least quarterly to keep up with TCF updates.
Websites using snigel AdEngine must obtain user consent under GDPR regulations.
DPIA considerations
A DPIA is required for any meaningful EU deployment of snigel AdEngine because of cross site profiling, persistent identifiers, IAB TCF participation, large numbers of demand partners and systematic transfers to the United States.
Sample consent text
We use snigel AdEngine to display programmatic advertising. snigel and its advertising partners set cookies, build advertising profiles and may transfer data to the United States. We only enable snigel after you click Accept, and we forward your IAB TCF preferences to the demand partners.
Third-party domains contacted
snigelweb.comcdn.snigelweb.comadengine.snigelweb.comgum.snigelweb.comCookies placed
| Name | Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| snigel_uid | persistent | 13 months | Persistent third party identifier set by snigel AdEngine to identify a unique browser across publisher sites that load the wrapper. |
| snigel_consent | persistent | 12 months | Stores the IAB TCF consent state forwarded by the publisher CMP to snigel and its demand partners. |
| snigel_session | session | Session | Session level identifier used during a single auction cycle to coordinate bid responses and viewability metrics. |
snigel AdEngine places tracking cookies for advertising — comply with GDPR using FlowConsent.
snigel AdEngine sets third party cookies on snigelweb.com (snigel_uid, snigel_consent) and triggers cookies from each demand partner participating in the auction (Magnite, Index Exchange, OpenX, PubMatic, Xandr, Criteo, etc.). Most have a retention of 13 to 24 months.
Yes. The cookies fall under Article 5(3) ePrivacy and the cross site advertising profiling under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. snigel and the demand partners only fire when the IAB TCF string forwarded by your CMP allows their respective purposes.
Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR + Art. 5(3) ePrivacy). Legitimate interest is not admissible for IAB TCF programmatic advertising under the consistent decisions of the CNIL, the Irish DPC and the Belgian APD.
snigel itself processes data in the EU. Most demand partners process data in the United States. Transfers rely on the EU/US Data Privacy Framework certifications of those partners and on Standard Contractual Clauses where DPF does not apply. A transfer impact assessment is required for the partner list.
Yes for any meaningful EU deployment. Cross site advertising profiling, persistent identifiers, IAB TCF participation, large numbers of demand partners and US transfers jointly meet the DPIA criteria of WP248 and the EDPB threshold guidance.
Sign the snigel DPA, integrate the snigel TCF v2.2 vendor ID in the CMP, document a transfer impact assessment for the demand partner list, restrict the list to vendors with DPF or signed SCC, list snigel and the demand partners in the privacy and cookie policies and review the configuration quarterly to keep up with TCF updates.
Other managed header bidding products include Ezoic, Mediavine, Raptive (formerly AdThrive), Freestar, Playwire and Setupad. Self managed Prebid.js is also possible for publishers with internal ad ops capacity. The compliance posture is similar across all of them; the work is in CMP integration and partner list curation.
List snigel with the operator (Snigel Web Services Limited, Ireland), the purpose (header bidding, programmatic advertising), the cookies (snigel_uid, snigel_consent), the legal basis (consent), the IAB TCF vendor ID, the EU storage location and a link to the demand partner list with their respective transfer destinations and safeguards.