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Personalised retargeting and dynamic creative optimisation platform acquired by Quantcast. Drops third party advertising cookies and builds visitor profiles for display advertising. Now part of Quantcast Advertise as a legacy product.
Struq was a London based personalised retargeting and dynamic creative optimisation platform acquired by Quantcast in 2014. The technology rebuilds advertising creatives in real time based on the products a visitor has browsed, then serves them across display ad inventory. After the acquisition the brand was retired and the engine is now embedded in Quantcast Advertise, where it operates as a legacy product line for direct response retargeting campaigns.
The Struq tag drops third party advertising cookies on the visitor browser, including a long lived user identifier, a session cookie and a sync cookie used to match identifiers with downstream ad exchanges. The platform records page URLs, product identifiers, dwell time, cart events and conversions, then builds a behavioural profile linked to the cookie identifier. IP address, user agent and rough geolocation are also processed for frequency capping and fraud detection.
Because Struq writes non essential cookies and engages in cross site profiling for advertising, Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive requires prior informed consent before the tag executes. The downstream processing of behavioural data falls under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR consent, and the profiling triggers the transparency duties of Articles 13 and 22. Regulators in France (CNIL), Germany (DSK) and Italy (Garante) have repeatedly sanctioned retargeting deployments that loaded scripts before consent or relied on legitimate interest.
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The tag must be gated behind a cookie banner under an advertising or marketing category. The banner must let the user refuse as easily as accept, withdraw consent at any time and access a clear description of Struq and Quantcast as recipients. If you operate inside the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework, the Quantcast vendor identifier and the applicable purposes (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10) must be signalled to Struq through a valid TC string before any pixel fires.
Quantcast operates infrastructure in the United States and in the European Union. Identifiers collected by Struq are processed in both regions for bidding and reporting. Transfers to the US currently rely on the EU US Data Privacy Framework, complemented by standard contractual clauses for jurisdictions outside the framework. A transfer impact assessment should be kept on file to document the supplementary measures, such as IP truncation and limited retention.
List Struq and Quantcast in the vendor section of your cookie policy, with the cookie names, purposes and retention. Block the script by default in your tag manager or CMP and load it only after an opt in. Provide a working opt out link to the Quantcast preference centre and to the IAB transparency framework. Keep proof of consent for at least the cookie lifetime, and review the deployment every twelve months to confirm whether the legacy Struq tag is still required or should be migrated to the modern Quantcast Advertise pixel.
Websites using Struq must obtain user consent under GDPR regulations.
DPIA considerations
Struq performs cross site behavioural profiling and dynamic creative optimisation, which triggers a high risk profile under Article 35 GDPR. A DPIA is recommended whenever the service is deployed at scale, when special category data could be inferred (health, political views, sexual orientation) or when audiences include minors. Document the categories of cookie identifiers collected, the retention period of the profile, the downstream ad exchange partners and the transfer mechanism to the United States.
Sample consent text
We use Struq (now Quantcast Advertise) to show you personalised ads based on your browsing on this site and on partner sites. This sets advertising cookies and shares your browsing identifiers with Quantcast in the United States and the European Union. We need your consent before activating these cookies. You can accept, refuse or withdraw your consent at any time.
Third-party domains contacted
struq.comquantserve.comquantcast.comquantcount.comCookies placed
| Name | Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| struq_uid | third party advertising | 13 months | Long lived advertising identifier used to recognise the visitor across sites and serve personalised retargeting creatives. |
| struq_sess | third party session | Session | Short lived session cookie used to deduplicate ad requests and frequency cap impressions. |
| struq_sync | third party tracking | 90 days | Cookie syncing identifier that maps the Struq ID to partner ad exchanges (Google, AppNexus, Rubicon). |
| mc | third party tracking | 13 months | Quantcast Measure and Advertise master cookie used to identify the browser across the Quantcast network. |
| d | third party advertising | 90 days | Quantcast advertising audience cookie storing segment memberships for retargeting and lookalike modelling. |
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The Struq tag sets third party advertising cookies on the visitor browser: a long lived user identifier (typically named struq_uid), a short session cookie used to deduplicate requests, and a sync cookie that maps the Struq identifier to partner ad exchanges such as Google, AppNexus and Rubicon. None of these cookies are strictly necessary, so they require consent under the ePrivacy Directive.
Yes. Struq writes non essential advertising cookies and performs cross site behavioural profiling as soon as the script loads. Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive, transposed in every EU member state, requires a prior opt in. The tag must be blocked by default in your tag manager or CMP and activated only after a clear acceptance in the advertising category of the banner.
For the cookies and identifiers the legal basis is consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR combined with Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Legitimate interest is not a valid basis for retargeting cookies according to the EDPB guidelines 2/2023 on TCF and to repeated decisions by the French CNIL and the Italian Garante.
Yes. Following the Quantcast acquisition, identifiers and profiles are processed across Quantcast servers in the US and the EU. Transfers to the US rely on the EU US Data Privacy Framework. Where the recipient is not certified, standard contractual clauses plus supplementary measures (IP truncation, limited retention) must be in place and documented in a transfer impact assessment.
A DPIA under Article 35 GDPR is recommended whenever Struq is deployed at scale, when audiences may include minors, when special category data could be inferred from browsing patterns, or when the retargeting is combined with offline customer data. Document the categories of data, the profile retention, the recipients and the cross border transfers.
Route the tag through a consent management platform that supports IAB TCF v2.2, gate it behind an explicit opt in, signal the Quantcast vendor identifier and purposes (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10) in the TC string, expose Struq in your vendor list with cookie names and durations, and provide a working opt out link to the Quantcast preference centre. Keep proof of consent for at least the longest cookie lifetime.
Consider contextual advertising (no cookies, targeting based on page content), first party retargeting using your own CRM with a clear legal basis, server side conversion APIs such as Google Enhanced Conversions with hashed identifiers, or modern Quantcast Advertise with cookieless modes. Each alternative still requires a transparency notice and, for personalised ads, consent.
List Struq and Quantcast as recipients in the vendor section of the policy, with cookie names, types, durations and the purpose (retargeting, dynamic creative optimisation, ad exchange synchronisation). Link to the Quantcast privacy policy and opt out page. Reference the EU US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses used for transfers, and review the entry every twelve months.