Home / Cookie Policy
A quick word on cookies
What cookies thesuryar.com uses, why they are set, and exactly how to turn off the ones that are not essential.
01. What cookies are
Cookies are small text files a website stores on your device to remember information between visits — things like your preferences, or how you arrived at a page. Some are essential to how the site works; others help me understand traffic or show relevant ads. This page breaks down exactly which ones thesuryar.com uses.
02. Types of cookies on this site
Broadly, the cookies on this site fall into three buckets:
- Strictly necessary: required for core site functions, like remembering that you have responded to the cookie banner.
- Analytics: set by Google Analytics to help me understand how people use the site.
- Advertising: set by Google AdSense and its partner network, used to serve and measure ads, and in some cases personalize which ads you see.
03. Analytics cookies
This site uses Google Analytics to collect anonymized, aggregated data — page views, session duration, device type, and general location. It typically sets cookies such as _ga and _gid. I do not see individual browsing histories.
You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
04. Advertising cookies (Google AdSense)
Ads on this site are served through Google AdSense. Google, and the third-party vendors it works with, use cookies (including the standard DoubleClick DART cookie) to serve ads based on your prior visits to this site and others, and to measure performance. This is what allows the blog and the calculators to stay free.
Opt out of personalized advertising via Google Ad Settings, or a broader set of vendor cookies through aboutads.info or youronlinechoices.eu (EU).
05. Other third-party cookies
A few other services may set their own cookies:
- Google Search Console — monitors how the site appears in search results.
- Embedded content — if a post embeds a YouTube video or similar, that provider may set its own cookies.
I do not control these directly — the linked providers own cookie policies are the authoritative source.
06. How long cookies last
Cookies fall into two categories by duration:
- Session cookies: deleted once you close your browser.
- Persistent cookies: stick around from a few days up to two years (typical for GA/AdSense), unless cleared manually.
07. Managing & disabling cookies
A few ways to manage cookies:
- Use the cookie consent banner on your first visit.
- Adjust your browser settings — every major browser has this under privacy settings.
- Opt out of personalized ads via Google Ad Settings.
Turning off non-essential cookies will not stop you from reading posts or using the calculators.
08. Changes to this policy
I will update this Cookie Policy whenever the cookies in use change. The “last revised” date at the top reflects the latest version.
09. Contact
Questions about cookies? Reach out through the Contact page — I answer these myself.