These companies, much like many other adtech companies and data brokers, are taking advantage of this confusion to harvest you data and profile you. Collected data and profiles don't usually sit only in these companies servers. While some like AddThis offer their own analytics and customer insight tools, they also exploit the value of this data through data marketplaces such as Lotame or identity solutions like LiveRamp.
The list of partners of AddThis on this front is pretty impressive and gives a sense of where the collected data might end up. ShareThis has a different approach and doesn't seem to shared data directly but offer a feature called "Data Feed" which allows integration with AdTech companies such as theTradeDesk or AppNexus. One of the main problems arising from this type of data sharing is the lack of user control over how the data might be used by these other companies as it can easily be linked to other data they possess on an individual.
Taking a step back, we observe that these are actually cogs in the the bigger online tracking ecosystem, offering yet another source of data for targeting and participating in the consolidation of unique profiles across the industry. All of this happens without effective user consent or knowledge. While most of these companies provide ways for users to opt-out here for ShareThis and here for AddThis , for the later you have to be prepared to submit a form with a lot of personal data to do so.
It is also likely that very few people will actually be aware that these opt-out options even exist and won't be obviously presented with them. Indeed, visiting these websites for the first time won't necessarily show a consent popup as you might have accepted their privacy policy on another website through bundled consent.
All in all, these companies participate to the creation of our secret identities , a side effect of the online tracking ecosystem which can have important negative impacts in our real life. Our online activities shouldn't be submitted to invasive surveillance over which we have limited practical means of control, even less coming from tools meant to make websites easier to use.
Additionally, if you want extra features or display modes, AddThis is probably your most robust option. That is, if you want an all-in-one solution. AddThis is only useful in this respect if you want something that does everything decently, but nothing exceptionally. Conversely, if you want a simple setup and install process with minimal options or configuration, ShareThis is your best choice.
I like that AddToAny is basically just open source and completely customizable to your needs. Rather than managing your plugins directly from your own space, you have to go through their dashboard to do it. I should also note that in some third party testing , AddThis showed some inaccuracies with their share counts and does a lot of third party cookie tracking and other referrals. If you would like to weigh in on this discussion, comment below.
What do you use on your website, and how has it worked for you? Have you had any issues with one of these three plugins? Do you have an alternative you prefer over these three? Tell us your story. Questions for us? Leave a reply! Name required. Email will not be published required. Toggle navigation. More traffic and shares on your blog posts Learn More. Learn More. So, I wonder, what does AddThis. Or are they just hemorrhaging money on the servers needed to serve and track 20b impressions a month?
They don't sell anything to anyone. Someone still has to indirectly? My guess is that this is a great source of general web analytics data, which someone will pay to have. Yes, the idea seems to be that they'll gather and monetize the data though I don't think that's sustainable. No one has to make money on this, they could fail while blowing all of their VC money. All of these widget companies seem like a bit of a scam to me.
So, you may notice some new, additional functionalities as you navigate around your AddThis tools dashboard , such as:. If you have already paid for a year of AddThis Pro or Business, never fear! You will be getting a pro-rated refund. All users under this umbrella will receive an email but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our support team.
Also, we will still be offering our Enterprise white-glove service plan, which you can find more information about here. Take this time to celebrate!
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