This page explains the cookies used on avagardentips.com, who sets them, and how to turn the optional ones off. It applies to this site only. The site is operated by a single independent publisher, Ava’s Garden Tips. Last updated August 2026.
Status as of 25 August 2026: this site is new and is not yet running advertising or analytics. No advertising cookie, no analytics cookie and no third-party script is loaded on any page today. The only cookies set are the strictly necessary WordPress ones, plus the name and email cookie you can opt into when you leave a comment. Everything below describes what will happen once display advertising is switched on, and this page is updated on the day that changes.
What a cookie is
A cookie is a small text file a website asks your browser to keep. The next time you load a page, the browser hands that file back, so the site can tell it’s the same browser as before. That’s the whole trick. Some cookies hold nothing more useful than “this person already dismissed the banner.” Others hold an ID that an advertising company can recognize across many different websites. This page also covers similar storage that sits in the browser rather than in a cookie file, such as local storage and pixels, because the practical effect is the same.
The four categories of cookies here
Only the first category loads before you make a choice. Everything else waits.
| Category | Who sets them | What they do | Typical lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | avagardentips.com (WordPress); Complianz, the consent platform | Keep the site working, remember that you answered the consent banner, and store what you answered | Session to about 12 months |
| Preferences | avagardentips.com | Remember small display choices, such as a dismissed notice | Session to about 12 months |
| Statistics / analytics | Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_<container-id>) | Count visits and show which pages get read, in aggregate | Up to 2 years, subject to browser caps |
| Marketing / advertising | Google AdSense and Google’s ad services (__gads, __gpi, IDE, NID, test_cookie), plus Google’s advertising partners | Serve ads, cap how often you see the same ad, measure clicks, and, with consent, personalize ads | 15 minutes to 13 months in the EEA and the UK; up to 24 months elsewhere |
Cookie names and durations are set by those vendors, not by this site, and they change. Google publishes its current list at business.safety.google/adscookies, and the companies that can buy ad space here are listed at Google’s partner sites page.
If you’re in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland
Once advertising is switched on, advertising and analytics scripts will be blocked until you consent. Nothing in the statistics or marketing rows above loads first and asks later. The consent banner will come from Complianz, a consent management platform certified by Google and integrated with the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF). It is installed on this site and will be switched on before the first ad is served. Google requires a certified TCF CMP before personalized ads may be served to readers in the European Economic Area and the UK, and since 31 July 2024 in Switzerland as well.
Your answer is stored as a TCF consent string on your device and kept as a record of consent for 12 months, so it can be produced if a regulator asks. That record holds your choices, a timestamp and the CMP and framework version. It isn’t used to advertise to you.
Changing your mind
Use the Manage cookie settings link in the footer of every page. It reopens the Complianz banner with your current choices shown. Turn a category off, save, and the scripts in that category stop loading on your next page view. Withdrawing consent doesn’t erase cookies already stored, so clear your browser cookies for this site as well if you want them gone now.
Global Privacy Control
This site honors the Global Privacy Control signal. GPC is a setting your browser or extension sends automatically, and a growing number of US state privacy laws treat it as a valid opt-out. When it arrives, the site treats you as having opted out of the sale or sharing of personal information for targeted advertising, and Google’s restricted data processing applies. You’ll still see ads. They’ll be based on the page you’re reading rather than on a profile. More at globalprivacycontrol.org.
Controlling cookies in your browser
Every browser lets you block or delete cookies for one site or for all sites. Settings move between versions, so these are the vendors’ own pages:
- Chrome — Settings, then Privacy and security, then Third-party cookies
- Safari — Settings, then Privacy
- Firefox — Settings, then Privacy & Security
- Microsoft Edge — Settings, then Cookies and site permissions
You can also open the site in a private or incognito window, which discards cookies when you close it.
What breaks if you block them
The gardening content doesn’t break. Every article stays readable with all optional cookies off, and nothing here is paywalled or gated.
- Block the strictly necessary cookies and the consent banner reappears on every page, because the site can’t remember your answer.
- Block preferences and small display choices reset each visit.
- Block statistics and visits go uncounted, which mostly means less information about which pages need fixing.
- Block marketing and ads still appear, but they’re contextual rather than personalized, and they pay less. Ads are what fund the site.
Questions
Email hello@avagardentips.com. What data is collected and on what legal basis is covered in the Privacy Policy. This policy is updated when the tools change; the date at the top tells you when that last happened.