Cookie Policy

What are cookies and similar technologies?

Cookies are small text files a website can store in your browser. “Similar technologies” includes things like localStorage, a browser storage mechanism that works differently from a cookie (it's not sent to a server automatically) but can serve a similar purpose, like remembering a preference.

Categories, and what's currently active

• Strictly necessary — technologies required for the site to function, including remembering your cookie consent choice. cookieyes-consent (see below) is in this category.
• Analytics — helps us understand how the site is used. Active only once you give analytics consent. _ga and _ga_TQNCEHNLFV (see below) are set by Google Analytics 4 only after that consent is given — never before, and never if you reject it.
• Advertising — would support ads or personalised advertising. Ireland Spots may use Google AdSense to display advertising, but whether ads are shown can vary over time — for example, while Google has not approved the site for AdSense — and no ads are shown during any period when advertising isn't active. A Google-issued verification script (see below) is present on pages so Google can confirm ownership of the site, but it does not itself display an ad or set an advertising cookie. Any advertising cookie Google may use once ads are actually active will only be set for visitors who have given advertising consent.

In short: a strictly-necessary cookie is already in use to remember your cookie choice; analytics cookies are used only once you've given consent; and no advertising cookie is set, and no ad is shown, during any period when advertising isn't active.

Cookies used on this site

• cookieyes-consent — set by CookieYes, our cookie consent tool. Purpose: remembers the cookie choices you've made (or that you haven't made one yet), so the banner doesn't reappear on every page and your preferences are respected. Category: strictly necessary.
• _ga — set by Google Analytics. Purpose: distinguishes visitors for analytics measurement (roughly, whether a browser is new or returning). Category: analytics — only set once you've given analytics consent.
• _ga_TQNCEHNLFV — set by Google Analytics 4, specific to Ireland Spots' GA4 property (the code is our GA4 Measurement ID, not anything unique to you). Purpose: analytics/session measurement — for example, roughly how long a visit lasts and which pages were viewed in one session. Category: analytics — only set once you've given analytics consent.

We don't set a specific duration for _ga or _ga_TQNCEHNLFV ourselves — how long they last is controlled by Google Analytics, and for cookieyes-consent by CookieYes; both can change this without it being something we control from our side. See Google's own cookie documentation for current details on Google Analytics cookies.

If your browser shows a cookie on this site that isn't listed above — for example, one set by a third-party site that an image or link points to, rather than by irelandspots.com itself — it isn't something Ireland Spots sets or controls.

Google AdSense verification script

As part of applying for Google AdSense, a script Google issued for irelandspots.com (pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js) loads on every page so Google can verify that we own this site. This script does not, on its own, display an advertisement, and we have not added any ad placement anywhere on the site while advertising isn't active. We can't control, and haven't independently verified, every detail of what this script does internally before any ad is actually requested — see “If advertising changes” below for how we handle that going forward.

If advertising changes

Advertising cookies will not be switched on without the same kind of consent flow already used for analytics applying to them too — Accept all, Reject all, or Manage preferences for each category separately, with the ability to change your mind at any time. This policy will be updated to name the exact advertising cookies, their purpose, and how long they last, before that category is ever switched on.

Browser storage

Cookie consent preferences are stored using the cookieyes-consent cookie described above — a cookie, not browser local storage. Once you've given analytics consent, Google Analytics also uses cookies (_ga and _ga_TQNCEHNLFV, described above) rather than local storage. This site doesn't currently use localStorage for anything related to cookie consent or analytics — both are handled entirely through the cookies named above.

Managing or withdrawing your choice

You can control cookies at any time through your browser's own settings. You can also accept, reject, or change your analytics consent choice at any time using the cookie preferences control CookieYes provides on this website — withdrawing consent is exactly as easy as giving it, and takes effect immediately: any Google Analytics cookies already set will not be renewed, and no further analytics data will be sent.