Cookie Policy

What cookies actually are

A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store on your device. The next time you visit, the browser sends that file back, which lets the site recognise the browser and remember something about it.

Cookies cannot run programs, install software, or read other files on your computer. What they can do is create a persistent identifier, and when that identifier is shared across many websites, it becomes a record of where you have been. That is the part worth paying attention to.

The distinctions that matter

• First-party cookies are set by the site you are on. Ours are used for basic function and preferences.
• Third-party cookies are set by other companies whose code runs on the page, such as advertising partners. These are the ones that enable tracking across different websites.
• Session cookies disappear when you close the browser.
• Persistent cookies stay for a set period, from days to over a year.

Similar technologies do comparable jobs and are covered by this policy too: local storage, pixels and tracking beacons, device fingerprinting signals, and software development kits inside embedded content.

Why this site uses them

Cookies on this site fall into four groups. Only the first is genuinely required for the site to work.

1. Strictly necessary. Security, load balancing, remembering your cookie choices, and letting forms submit correctly. These cannot be switched off and do not require consent.
2. Functional. Remembering preferences so the site behaves consistently for you.
3. Analytics. Aggregated measurement of which pages are read and where people leave, so we know what to improve.
4. Advertising. Set by our advertising partner and the companies it works with, to select advertisements, limit repetition, and measure whether an advertisement worked.

The last two categories exist because advertising funds this site. We are not going to pretend otherwise.

What is actually set on this site

The table below describes the categories in use. Exact cookie names change frequently, particularly on the advertising side where dozens of partners may participate in a single auction, so this describes purpose and duration rather than pretending to be an exhaustive live list.

Advertising cookies in more detail

Advertising is the largest source of third-party cookies here, so it deserves its own explanation.

When a page loads, an automated auction takes place in a fraction of a second. Advertisers bid for the chance to show you an advertisement, and to decide what to bid they may use the content of the page, your approximate location, your device, and, where you have consented or not opted out, an interest profile built from your activity across many sites.

Those partners may collect your IP address, device and browser details, cookie identifiers, pages viewed, referral source, and which advertisements you saw or clicked. Details of the companies involved and their individual privacy policies are published at mediavine.com/ad-partners.

Declining advertising cookies does not remove advertisements. You will see the same number, but they will be generic rather than tailored.

How to control cookies

On this site

A consent banner appears on your first visit if you are in a region where consent is required. You can change your decision at any time using the privacy settings link, which our advertising partner places in the footer or in the banner itself. Visitors in the EU and UK will see an Update Privacy Settings style link, and visitors in United States states with applicable privacy laws will see a Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information link.

In your browser

Every major browser lets you block third-party cookies, delete existing cookies, or clear everything on exit. Blocking third-party cookies is the single most effective step available to most people, and it will not break this website.

• Chrome: Settings, then Privacy and security, then Third-party cookies
• Safari: Settings, then Privacy, then Prevent cross-site tracking
• Firefox: Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Enhanced Tracking Protection
• Edge: Settings, then Cookies and site permissions
• Mobile: the equivalent options sit under Settings in the browser app, and iOS and Android also offer a device-level limit on ad tracking

Industry opt-outs

• Digital Advertising Alliance
• Network Advertising Initiative
• Your Online Choices, for European visitors

These opt-outs are themselves stored in a cookie, which means clearing your cookies also clears the opt-out. It is an awkward quirk of how the system was designed, and it is worth repeating the process occasionally.

Do Not Track and global privacy signals

Some browsers send a Do Not Track header. There is no agreed industry standard for how sites should respond to it, and most do not respond at all, so we do not claim to honour it.

Global Privacy Control is a newer signal that is legally recognised in California and several other United States jurisdictions. Where our consent tool and advertising partner support it, that signal is passed through and treated as an opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information.

Changes to this policy

Advertising technology changes constantly, and so do the rules governing it. When this policy is updated the effective date at the top changes. If a change materially affects what is collected or how you can control it, we will flag it on the site for a reasonable period.

For the broader picture of what is collected and why, read our Privacy Policy.