The _gat_<tracker> cookie
A Google Analytics throttling flag that expires after one minute and limits how quickly hits are sent.
_gat_<tracker> at a glance
- Cookie name
_gat_<tracker>- Vendor
- Google Analytics
- Category
- Analytics
- Party
- First-party
- Typical duration
- 1 minute
- Set on
.<your-domain>- Value format
- A simple flag, typically the value 1 (format not documented by vendor)
- Name match
- Any cookie whose name starts with
_gat
What the _gat_<tracker> cookie does
_gat is a rate-limiting flag. analytics.js sets it as _gat or _gat_<tracker-name>, and gtag.js with a Universal Analytics property sets _gat_gtag_<property-id>. It holds no user identifier and simply expires after a minute.
Google's advertising cookie list documents _gat[_<customname>] as an Analytics cookie lasting 1 minute. Like _gid, it comes from Universal Analytics libraries, so its presence usually means a legacy tag is still loading. The throttling description comes from the retired Universal Analytics documentation.
What TagPipes observed
23%
of sites scanned set it (9,440 of 41,162)
under an hour
median observed lifetime
TagPipes scanned 41,162 public websites between August 11, 2026 and September 13, 2026, loading up to three pages per site in a real browser as a first-time visitor. _gat_<tracker> was present on 9,440 of them.
It was set as a first-party cookie on 9,395 sites and as a third-party cookie on 49. A site can count in both. Where it was stored as a persistent cookie, the median lifetime we recorded was under an hour.
Often found alongside
- _ga 100%
- _gid 100%
- _ga_<container-id> 97%
- BrowserId 33%
- CookieConsentPolicy 28%
- LSKey-c$CookieConsentPolicy 28%
Percentage of sites with _gat_<tracker> where the other cookie was also present.
Technologies detected on the same sites
- Google Analytics on 100% of them (55% of all sites scanned)
- Google Fonts on 94% of them (78% of all sites scanned)
- Google Tag Manager on 84% of them (30% of all sites scanned)
- reCAPTCHA on 20% of them (32% of all sites scanned)
- DoubleClick on 18% of them (11% of all sites scanned)
Aggregate figures across all sites scanned. Websites of TagPipes customers are excluded, no individual site is named, and cookie values are never read or stored. Snapshot dated September 13, 2026.
How to check for _gat_<tracker> on a website
- Open the site in Chrome, then open DevTools (F12, or Cmd+Option+I on a Mac).
- Go to the Application tab and expand Cookies in the left panel.
- Select each domain listed there and look for a name starting with
_gat. The Expires column shows when it will be deleted. - If it is not there, reload the page. Many cookies are only set after a tag has loaded, and some only after a visitor has made a consent choice.
Other Google Analytics cookies
Sources
Purpose, duration and value format checked against the vendor documentation above on . The figures under What TagPipes observed are TagPipes scan data from September 13, 2026, not values documented by the vendor. Vendors change their cookies, and sites can configure their own names and lifetimes. Browse all cookies.
Know every cookie your own site sets
TagPipes Pulse identifies the cookies dropped on your site and flags unclassified or miscategorized ones. Shield builds your cookie declaration from a real scan rather than a questionnaire.
TagPipes monitors, configures and reports. It does not determine legal compliance and does not provide legal advice. Output is informational and reflects observed state at the time of observation. Rawsoft's expertise is technology, not law; please confirm any regulatory interpretation with your own counsel.