ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Web bug

A web bug is like a tiny secret spy that hides on a website.

Imagine you have a favorite candy store, and you visit it often. But you notice that every time you go there, the store manager seems to know what candies you like and recommends them to you. How does the manager know what you like every time you visit, even though you don't tell them?

Well, the manager might have put a secret spy in the store to track your behavior. This spy is tiny and hidden, so you can't see it. It could be a camera or something else that keeps an eye on what you do in the store.

A web bug works in a similar way. It's a tiny image or code that's inserted into a website. This code tracks your behavior and sends information about it back to its owner. For example, it could tell them when you visit the website, what pages you look at, and how long you stay on each page.

Why would someone want to use a web bug? Well, it could be a company that wants to know what products you're interested in so they can show you ads for those products. Or it could be a website owner who wants to know how many people visit their site and which pages are most popular.

So just like the candy store manager, these people use web bugs to spy on you and learn more about your behavior. But unlike the store manager, you can protect yourself from web bugs by using privacy settings and tools like ad blockers on your computer.