Capterra

Overview

Capterra is a software review and comparison marketplace owned by Gartner Digital Markets. Software vendors embed Capterra review badges and comparison widgets on their websites to display ratings, review counts, and awards sourced from their Capterra listings. These widgets serve as third-party social proof, commonly placed on marketing pages to build trust with potential buyers researching software purchases.

Capterra is part of the broader Gartner Digital Markets portfolio alongside GetApp and Software Advice, all of which connect software buyers with vendors through review content and lead generation.

What This Script Does

When Capterra widgets are embedded on your website, the following activity occurs:

• Badge rendering: Capterra's JavaScript loads and renders review badges displaying star ratings, review counts, and award icons sourced from the vendor's Capterra listing.
• Impression tracking: Each widget load is reported back to Capterra's servers, allowing the platform to measure badge visibility and provide impression analytics to the vendor.
• Click attribution: Clicks on Capterra badges that redirect visitors to the vendor's Capterra listing page are tracked for referral attribution, measuring the widget's effectiveness at driving marketplace traffic.
• Network requests: Widget scripts make requests to Capterra's domains, transmitting the visitor's IP address and standard browser metadata (user agent, referrer, screen resolution).
• Potential cookie use: Depending on the widget implementation, Capterra may set cookies for attribution tracking or session identification to measure conversion paths from widget impression to marketplace engagement.

The widgets are marketing tools — they display social proof to influence purchasing decisions and create a measurable channel between the vendor's website and Capterra's marketplace.

Consent & Compliance

Capterra widgets are marketing assets that include tracking capabilities. The impression and click tracking serves Capterra's and the vendor's marketing analytics needs, not a function requested by the visitor. Under the ePrivacy Directive, tracking these interactions — particularly if cookies are involved — requires prior consent.

As a Gartner subsidiary, Capterra's data processing falls under Gartner's privacy framework. Visitor data transmitted to Capterra's servers during widget loads is subject to Gartner's data handling practices, which should be reviewed and disclosed in the site operator's privacy policy.

The marketing nature of these widgets (social proof for conversion optimization) clearly distinguishes them from functional or essential site features.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. Capterra widgets are marketing tools that track impressions and clicks, transmitting visitor data to Gartner's infrastructure for attribution analytics. They should be loaded only after consent is obtained.