G2 Creates Category for Website Privacy Auditing Tools as Adoption Spreads

In October of 2025, G2 created a new software category – Website Privacy Auditing Tools  – to account for the recent evolution in privacy software. It is no longer enough to have a consent management platform (CMP) without any automated privacy compliance auditing. US state regulators are taking action against companies with non-compliant websites (and apps), and privacy teams are purchasing new solutions to continuously audit for privacy violations.

“Businesses should scrutinize their privacy management solutions to ensure they comply with the law. Using a consent management platform doesn’t get you off the hook for compliance.” - Michael Macko, Head of Enforcement, CalPrivacy (California Privacy Protection Agency) when CCPA fine against Todd Snyder announced May 6, 2025

Privado AI Led Category Creation with Web Auditor Launch

One year ago, Privado AI launched Web Auditor, the first comprehensive automated privacy auditing solution for websites. After years of helping customers find and fix privacy risks in code with industry-leading privacy code scanning, we found that privacy teams could not audit the area with the greatest enforcement risk: websites. CMPs could have been configured in a compliant manner initially, but privacy teams had no visibility when websites quickly became out of compliance as marketing teams regularly update websites with new advertising third parties. 

CMPs and websites themselves require continual monitoring and manual configuration to maintain compliance with privacy laws such as CCPA, CIPA, and GDPR. Without sufficient auditing in place, companies risk CCPA enforcement actions and CIPA lawsuits, which have become increasingly common. Traditionally, CMPs and other solutions have offered website scanning to identify third-party pixels and cookies, but they do not verify that pixels or cookies are compliant. Manual website testing would be required to verify pixels, cookies, and several other aspects of a website are fully compliant.  

With Privado AI Web Auditor, privacy teams receive a real-time view of any privacy compliance risks across their websites and no manual testing is needed. After many leading organizations such as ZoomInfo, Riot Games, and Marriott adopted Web Auditor and several privacy software companies launched similar solutions, it was clear a new product category had been created. Privado AI Web Auditor is still the only solution that identifies each personal data element shared by consent action and flags non-compliant sensitive data shared to third parties.

How G2 Defines Website Privacy Auditing Tools 

In response, G2 created the Website Privacy Auditing Tools category to differentiate between two existing categories: Cookie Tracking and Consent Management Platforms (CMPs). Cookie tracking tools are often not dedicated to address privacy. These tools primarily identify the pixels and cookies used on a website but lack privacy compliance checks. Marketing teams often use cookie tracking tools to check that pixels and cookies are active for marketing measurement purposes, which can even enable privacy violations. CMPs are designed to capture consent and limit cookies and data flows according to privacy compliance requirements. CMPs often include cooking tracking but do not include privacy compliance checks. 

To qualify as a website privacy auditing tool, G2 requires that solutions 

• Audit entire websites to verify privacy compliance
• Leverage automated website scanning or user simulation to identify privacy compliance issues
• Generate reports with remediation recommendations for identified issues

G2 has identified 66 cookie tracking tools but only 14 website privacy auditing tools. Most of the 14 website privacy auditing tools are offered by companies known for their CMPs. These companies have historically not invested in privacy auditing because such auditing inherently identifies issues with their CMPs. Without any bias towards a CMP, Privado AI has built the most comprehensive website auditing solution for privacy teams. 

Key Privado AI Web Auditor Capabilities

• US compliance checks: GPC, manual opt-outs, cookies, network requests
• Global compliance checks for 35+ locations, including GDPR opt-in consent, TCF, PIPEDA, and more 
• Video viewing data sharing detection for VPPA compliance 
• Sensitive data sharing detection
• Privacy dark pattern and non-compliant consent banner detection 
• Integrations with tag managers and CDPs to monitor 4th party data flows
• Multi-page scanning: Scan thousands of pages for each domain based on custom targeting
• User journey simulation pre and post login using AI agents 
• Risk alerts with code and screenshot evidence
• Website data maps: Identify data elements shared with third parties 

"The only solution I know that can reliably determine whether your website is fully privacy compliant is Privado AI. Privado AI identifies risks and evidence of non-compliant cookies, pixels, scripts, and network requests that are even difficult to detect from thorough manual reviews." - Rob Priore, Sr Manager, Privacy and Compliance Technology, ZoomInfo

Mobile Apps Also Need Privacy Auditing

The same privacy requirements apply to mobile apps, and recent CCPA enforcement actions against Tilting Point and Jam City back this up. Although most privacy enforcement to date has focused on websites, more and more lawsuits and regulatory actions are focused on mobile apps. In response, Privado AI launched App Auditor earlier this year to offer the most comprehensive privacy checks for mobile apps. App privacy auditing might be the next new privacy software category as mobile app enforcement increases. 

Get started today with Privado AI

• No technical implementation on website or app required: Simply input the necessary web domains and app store files (IPA for iOS or APK for Android) 
• Request a free website scan
• Learn more at our Web Auditor and App Auditor product pages