3rd party code

Silktide loads your pages in a real browser and measures how much time is spent running code from other companies, such as analytics, cookie banners, live chat, social media plugins, and advertising. Each third-party service is reported with the time it costs your page.

Why this matters

Third-party code is the part of your page you don't control. Each service you embed downloads and runs its own scripts, and while they run, the page can't respond to your visitors - it feels frozen. Sites commonly accumulate these services over years, and their combined cost often exceeds that of the website itself.

There is a privacy dimension too: many third-party services observe your visitors, so each one you remove also reduces your data protection exposure.

How to fix it

Audit the reported services. Sites often still load tags for tools nobody uses anymore - remove them.
Load what remains only where it is needed. A live chat script needed on one page does not have to load on every page.
Defer third-party scripts so they load after your own content, or replace heavy embeds with a lightweight placeholder that loads the real thing on demand - see 3rd party facades.

How Silktide tests this

Load the page in a real browser and identify every request that comes from a third-party service rather than your own website.
Group those requests by the service they belong to, using a public catalog of known services.
Measure, for each service, how long its code occupies the browser's and how long it blocks the page from responding.
Report each service with its files and timings, so the most expensive services stand out.

Troubleshooting

A service is reported that we need

The check does not say a service is wrong to use - it shows what each one costs, so you can weigh that against its value. If the cost is high, check whether the service offers an async or deferred loading option, or a lighter integration.

The times vary between scans

Third-party servers are outside your control and their performance varies. Focus on the pattern across scans rather than a single measurement.