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Cookie Policy
Your information is handled by our Privacy Policy, which outlines our standards for the collection, processing, and storage. This policy explains how we, our partners, and the users of our services use cookies, as well as your options for controlling them.
On sites, we host for our users.
On sites that use our plugins (e.g. Jetpack)
| Category of cookies | Why we use these cookies |
| Strictly Necessary | These cookies are essential for websites on our services to perform their basic functions. These include those required to allow registered users to authenticate and perform account-related functions, as well as to save the contents of virtual “carts” on sites that have an eCommerce functionality. |
| Functionality | These cookies are used to store preferences set by users such as account name, language, and location. |
| Security | We use these cookies to help identify and prevent potential security risks. |
| Analytics and Performance | Performance cookies collect information on how users interact with our websites, including what pages are visited most, as well as other analytical data. We use these details to improve how our websites function and to understand how users interact with them. |
| Advertising | These cookies are used to display relevant advertising to visitors who use our services or visit websites we host or provide, as well as to understand and report on the efficacy of ads served on our websites. They track details such as the number of unique visitors, the number of times particular ads have been displayed, and the number of clicks the ads have received. They are also used to build user profiles, including showing you ads based on products you’ve viewed or acts you have taken on our (and other) websites. These are set by Automattic and trusted third-party networks, and are generally persistent. |
| Third Party / Embedded Content | Sites hosted on WordPress.com make use of different third-party applications and services to enhance the experience of website visitors. These include social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter (through the use of sharing buttons), or embedded content from Youtube and Vimeo. As a result, cookies may be set by these third parties and used by them to track your online activity. We have no direct control over the information that is collected by these cookies. |
User Sites
We use cookies for our Site Stats feature in addition to the ones we place on our sites. Counts both the total number of unique visitors and the number of visits from various geographical areas. When we see a user or browser for the first time in a certain timeframe, we count that person as a visitor.
| Cookie | Purpose |
| ads | Tracks if a visitor has clicked an ad before. |
| lr_nw | Counts and tracks pageviews on Longreads.com. Used to determine whether or not to show our Membership popup message. |
| wordpress_eli | Reduces the display of ads for repeat visitors. |
Please also see the section below on third-party advertisements that you may see on our sites or sites that use our services.
| Cookie | Purpose |
| __pdvt | Used in the log of Polldaddy survey data to aid in debugging customer problems |
| ab | Used for “AB testing” of new features. |
| nux_flow_name | Identifies which user signup flow was shown to the user. |
| tk_ni / tk_ai / tk_qs | Gathers information for our own, first-party analytics tool about how our services are used. A collection of internal metrics for user activity is used to improve user experience. |
| wp-affiliate-tracker | Remembers the ID of the affiliate that referred the current user to WordPress.com |
| utma / utmb / utmc / utmt / utmz / ga / gat / gid | Google Analytics. Gathers information that helps us understand how visitors interact with our websites, which allows us to create a better experience for our visitors. Our users may also implement Google Analytics on their websites. |
| Cookie | Purpose |
| _longreads_prod_new | Authentication for Longreads.com Member accounts. Only active when logged in, on *.longreads.com domains. |
| akm_mobile | Stores whether a user has chosen to view the mobile version of a website. |
| bottling | Used to track the language a user has selected to view popular blogs in. |
| landingpage_currency | Defines the currency displayed on WordPress.com landing pages. |
| pd_dashboard | Records last used folder in Polldaddy dashboard so it can be reopened upon user’s next visit. |
| PD_USER_AUTH | Login cookie used to identify Polldaddy user. |
| wordpress_logged_in* | Checks whether or not the current visitor is a logged-in WordPress.com user. |
| wp-settings-{user_id} | Persists a user’s wp-admin configuration. |
| wp_sharing_{id} | Tracks whether or not a user has already acted. |
Security
| Cookie | Purpose |
| csrftoken | Python/Ajax security cookie used on accounts.longreads.com. |
| Cookie | Purpose |
| country_code | Used to determine whether or not the cookie banner should be shown. Set immediately on page load and retained for 6 hours to remember the visitor’s country. |
| sensitive_pixel_option | Remembers the state of visitor acceptance to the cookie banner. Only set when the visitor clicks Accept. |
| twostep_auth | Set when the user is logged in using two-factor authentication. |
| wordpress_test_cookie | Checks if cookies are enabled to provide an appropriate user experience. |
Advertisements from Third Parties Through Automattic’s Ads Program
Our goal is to make publishing accessible to everyone. Some of our users’ websites feature advertisements as a way for us to continue providing WordPress.com as a free tool for website creation. Ads can also be placed on a user’s website through our advertising program. In addition, several of our websites display adverts from our advertising program (e.g. longreads.com).
To run our advertising program, we have to rely on the help of outside merchants. Cookies are used to collect data as part of our advertising program. Ad serving and personalization are made possible by advertising cookies, which we use in conjunction with third-party partners.
Each of our advertising partners sets cookies, and we’ve included a list of those partners’ names and the cookies they set for your convenience. This is not an all-inclusive list of the partners we have worked with in the past. Our ad-related cookies can be controlled in the following sections.
| Partner | Cookie Info |
| Amazon | https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=footer_iba?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201909150 |
| AppNexus | https://www.appnexus.com/en/company/cookie-policy |
| BidSwitch | http://www.bidswitch.com/cookie-statement/ |
| Google (AdSense, DoubleClick Ad Exchange “AdX”) | https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads |
| OATH | https://policies.oath.com/us/en/oath/privacy/topics/cookies/index.html |
| Pubmatic | https://pubmatic.com/legal/website-cookie-policy/ |
| Skimlinks | https://skimlinks.com/user-cookies |
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