Cookie Policy

Last Updated: April 2024

This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, how FindBestBeach.com ("we," "us," or "our") uses cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website findbestbeach.com (the "Site"), and what choices you have regarding their use. This policy should be read alongside our Privacy Policy, which provides additional details about how we collect and use your personal information.

What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or other device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, provide a better browsing experience, and give website operators information about how their site is being used. Cookies are stored on your device's browser and can be read by the website that created them on your subsequent visits.

Cookies can be "persistent" or "session" cookies. Persistent cookies remain on your device after you close your browser and are used when you return to the site. They have an expiration date set in their code and will be automatically deleted after that date. Session cookies are temporary and are deleted from your device when you close your web browser. In addition to cookies, we may also use similar technologies such as web beacons (also known as tracking pixels or clear GIFs), which are tiny transparent images embedded in web pages or emails that help us track visitor behavior and measure the effectiveness of our content and advertising.

Cookies We Use

Essential Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary for the operation of our Site. They enable core functionality such as page navigation, access to secure areas, and remembering your cookie consent preferences. Without these cookies, the Site cannot function properly, and they cannot be disabled in our systems. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. Examples include:

Cookie consent cookie: Stores your preference regarding cookie acceptance or decline so we do not repeatedly show the consent banner. This is stored in your browser's local storage.
Session management cookies: Maintain your session state as you navigate between pages on the Site, ensuring a consistent experience.

Analytics Cookies

Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our Site by collecting and reporting information about page visits, traffic sources, user journeys, and engagement metrics. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. They help us determine which pages are the most and least popular, see how visitors move around the Site, and improve the overall user experience. We use the following analytics services:

Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*, _gid): These cookies are set by Google Analytics and are used to calculate visitor, session, and campaign data for the Site's analytics reports. They store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. The _ga cookie has a default expiration of two years, while the _gid cookie expires after 24 hours.
Google Analytics 4 measurement cookies: Used to distinguish users and measure interactions across sessions, including page views, scroll depth, outbound clicks, site search, and file downloads.

Advertising Cookies

Advertising cookies are used to deliver advertisements that are relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and to help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. These cookies are usually placed by third-party advertising networks with our permission. They remember that you have visited our Site and this information is shared with other organizations, such as advertisers, to serve you targeted ads. We use the following advertising services:

Google AdSense (IDE, DSID, __gads, __gpi, __gpi_optout): Google AdSense places cookies on your device to serve personalized advertisements based on your browsing history across websites that use Google's advertising services. The IDE cookie is used by Google DoubleClick to register and report the website user's actions after viewing or clicking one of the advertiser's ads, with the purpose of measuring the efficacy of an ad and presenting targeted ads. This cookie has a maximum expiration of 13 months.
Google AdSense NID cookie: Used to show Google ads in Google services for signed-out users and to store user preferences regarding ad personalization.
Google AdSense consent cookies (CONSENT, SOCS): Store your consent state for Google services and advertising, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations.

Preference Cookies

Preference cookies allow our Site to remember choices you have made in the past, such as your preferred language, the region you are located in, your display preferences, or your preferred beach search filters. These cookies enhance your experience by providing personalized features without requiring you to reconfigure your settings each time you visit. They may include:

Theme and display preferences: Remember your visual preferences for how the Site content is displayed.
Location preferences: Store your preferred search region or location to provide more relevant beach recommendations on return visits.
Tool settings: Remember your last-used settings in our beach finder and comparison tools so you can pick up where you left off.

Third-Party Cookies

Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on our Site. Google AdSense sets several cookies on your device to serve ads that are relevant to your interests based on your browsing activity across the web. Google may use the data collected through these cookies to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. You can review Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy. To opt out of personalized advertising from Google, visit Google's Ads Settings or use the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. that uses cookies to help us analyze how visitors use our Site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the Site (including your IP address, which is anonymized before storage) is transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google uses this information to compile reports on website activity, provide other services relating to website activity and internet usage, and provide aggregated demographic and interest data. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required by law or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. For more information on Google Analytics and privacy, visit Google Analytics privacy overview.

Social Media Cookies

If our Site includes social media sharing buttons or embedded content from social media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, or Pinterest), these platforms may set cookies on your device when you interact with their features or even simply when you load a page that contains their embedded content. These cookies allow the social media platforms to track your browsing activity across websites, build a profile of your interests, and show you relevant advertisements on their platforms. We do not control the cookies set by these third parties. Please refer to each social media platform's cookie and privacy policies for more information about how they use your data.

Managing Cookies

You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to view, manage, delete, and block cookies for websites. Please note that if you choose to block or delete cookies, some features of our Site may not function properly, and your user experience may be degraded.

Here is how to manage cookies in the most popular browsers:

Google Chrome

Click the three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner of the browser, then select "Settings." In the left sidebar, click "Privacy and security," then click "Cookies and other site data" (or "Third-party cookies" in newer versions). From here you can choose to block third-party cookies, block all cookies, or clear cookies when you close the browser. You can also add specific sites to the "Allow" or "Block" lists. To delete existing cookies, go to "Privacy and security" and click "Clear browsing data," then check "Cookies and other site data" and choose your time range.

Mozilla Firefox

Click the hamburger menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the upper right corner, then select "Settings." Click "Privacy & Security" in the left panel. Under "Enhanced Tracking Protection," you can choose Standard, Strict, or Custom protection levels. The Standard setting blocks third-party tracking cookies, social media trackers, cryptominers, and fingerprinters. For more granular control, select "Custom" and check the cookie types you want to block. To delete existing cookies, scroll down to "Cookies and Site Data" and click "Clear Data."

Safari

Click "Safari" in the top menu bar, then select "Settings" (or "Preferences" on older versions). Go to the "Privacy" tab. Safari blocks cross-site tracking cookies by default. You can enable "Block all cookies" to prevent any cookies from being stored, though this may affect website functionality. To remove existing cookies, click "Manage Website Data," where you can view and remove cookies stored by individual websites, or click "Remove All" to delete all stored cookies and data.

Microsoft Edge

Click the three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner, then select "Settings." Click "Cookies and site permissions" in the left sidebar, then click "Manage and delete cookies and site data." You can toggle "Block third-party cookies" on or off, and you can add sites to the "Block" or "Allow" lists. To clear existing cookies, go to "Privacy, search, and services" in the left sidebar, then under "Clear browsing data" click "Choose what to clear." Check "Cookies and other site data" and select your preferred time range.

Cookie Consent

When you first visit our Site, you will be presented with a cookie consent banner that allows you to accept or decline non-essential cookies. Essential cookies that are strictly necessary for the Site to function will always be active, as they do not require your consent. If you click "Accept," we will set all categories of cookies as described in this policy. If you click "Decline," we will only use essential cookies and will not set analytics, advertising, or preference cookies. Your consent preference is stored in your browser's local storage so that we remember your choice on subsequent visits. You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clearing your browser's local storage or cookies and revisiting the Site, which will cause the consent banner to appear again.

Impact of Disabling Cookies

If you choose to disable or block cookies, you should be aware that some parts of our Site may not function as intended. Specifically:

Without essential cookies: Core site navigation and functionality may be impaired. The cookie consent banner may reappear on every page visit.
Without analytics cookies: We will be unable to understand how you use our Site, which means we cannot effectively improve our content, features, and user experience based on actual usage data.
Without advertising cookies: You will still see advertisements on our Site, but they will be generic rather than personalized to your interests. This does not reduce the number of ads you see; it only affects their relevance to you.
Without preference cookies: The Site will not remember your previous settings, search filters, or display preferences, and you may need to reconfigure them each time you visit.

Blocking cookies does not prevent you from accessing our Site entirely, but it may result in a less personalized and less seamless browsing experience.

Updates to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies we use, changes in technology, or changes in applicable laws and regulations. When we make updates, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to periodically review this Cookie Policy to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. Your continued use of the Site after any changes to this Cookie Policy constitutes your acceptance of those changes.

Contact

If you have any questions about our use of cookies or this Cookie Policy, please contact us:

Email: [email protected]
Website: Contact Page

For more information about your broader privacy rights and how we handle your personal data, please review our Privacy Policy.