Cookie Policy
Effective October 1, 2026 · Version 2026-10-01.1
Cookies and browser storage
Cookies are small values stored by a website in your browser. Local storage can retain preferences without sending them with every request. Similar technologies include scripts, tags and identifiers used to measure activity or provide integrations. This policy covers these technologies used by WiserMap; third-party sites have their own notices.
Necessary functionality
Session and security cookies support sign-in, forms, fraud prevention and CSRF protection. Preferences needed to provide a function you request can include language, time zone, a selected country or location, and your cookie choices. Necessary functionality is not disabled by rejecting optional cookies. Location coordinates are used only when provided through the relevant location function; you can use a manually selected area instead.
Optional categories
- Analytics: usage statistics, configured Google Analytics and first-party advertising interaction measurement. These help understand performance but are optional in our visitor preference control.
- Marketing: optional advertising-related integrations or additional tracking code when enabled. Contextual sponsored listings can still be displayed without permission to use optional tracking.
- Functional: optional third-party chat or similar convenience integrations. Contact Support remains available through tickets when this category is off.
Where your region requires permission first, optional scripts governed by this control are held inactive until you allow their category. Elsewhere they are on by default and you can turn them off at any time. Accepting one category does not authorize every possible future use. Rejected measurement can make reports incomplete; we do not invent missing impressions or promise that analytics represent every visitor.
Your choices and the popup
Default settings depend on where you are. If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, a small privacy notice offers Necessary only, Accept optional and Customize on your first visit, optional choices are off until you select them, and neither browsing nor closing a page is treated as consent. Everywhere else, optional cookies (analytics, advertising and optional features) are on by default, no popup is shown, and you can turn any of them off at any time with the Cookie settings or Your Privacy Choices links in the footer of every page. We estimate your region from your browser’s time zone setting. A detected Global Privacy Control signal disables optional categories in every region.
We store your choice under wm_privacy_choice_v1 in local storage and a preference cookie. Local storage remains until removed by you or your browser; the cookie is set for up to 400 days, subject to browser limits. We use an existing valid choice so the popup does not return on every visit. It can reappear after storage is cleared, in private browsing, on another device or browser, after browser expiry, or when a material change requires a new choice. No website can guarantee a literal once-in-a-lifetime popup across all devices.
Withdrawing a category prevents future activation of the controlled scripts and reloads the page when necessary to stop previously loaded scripts. We also attempt to remove recognizable first-party tracking cookies. Withdrawal cannot undo processing already lawfully completed or directly delete cookies belonging to a third-party domain. Use your browser controls or the provider’s settings for those.
Storage examples and duration
| Purpose | Typical storage | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Login and form protection | Application session and CSRF values | Session or configured security lifetime |
| Privacy choice | wm_privacy_choice_v1 | Local storage until removed; preference cookie up to 400 days |
| Requested location | Selected country and supplied coordinates | Up to 30 days where the location feature sets them |
| Review interaction preference | liked_reviews | Up to 30 days where used |
| Analytics or advertising identifiers | Provider-specific values, such as Google identifiers when enabled and allowed | Provider and configuration dependent; browser restrictions may shorten this |
| Newsletter display preference | Popup interaction preference | Persistent where configured, until expiry or deletion; this is not newsletter consent |
Browser controls and third parties
You can block or delete cookies in your browser. Blocking necessary storage can prevent sign-in or form submission. Browser privacy controls may differ between devices and may not stop all network requests needed to load requested content. When you follow a payment or external business link, the destination controls its own storage. WiserMap uses Stripe’s payment services where offered; Stripe is an independent provider, not our brand.
California and privacy requests
Use Cookie settings or Your Privacy Choices in the footer, or a Global Privacy Control signal, to opt out of optional tracking, including any sale or sharing for advertising, in this browser. For account-level requests, authorized-agent requests, sale/sharing questions or sensitive-information concerns, open a Privacy support ticket. Optional acceptance and an account are not required to submit a request. See California privacy rights for more information.
Ad Choices: advertising and your privacy
WiserMap displays paid business promotions marked Sponsored. An advertisement buys eligibility for exposure in the placement and geographic reach selected by the advertiser; it does not buy a favorable review, verification of every claim, a guaranteed ranking, a customer lead or a completed sale. Visitors decide which businesses to contact.
Google ads
WiserMap shows ads served by Google AdSense. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland they load only after you allow Advertising in your cookie choices; elsewhere Advertising is on by default and you can turn it off in Cookie settings. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to WiserMap and/or other sites on the Internet.
You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings, or opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising at aboutads.info. Learn more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings.
Why you may see an ad
A campaign may be eligible because of the page you are viewing, the selected country or area, an advertiser’s chosen reach, campaign dates and available placement inventory. Contextual selection uses the current page or area rather than requiring a history of your activity across unrelated sites. Location matching is approximate; device permissions, VPNs, travel and network routing can affect it. A location match is not proof that a particular person lives there.
Where ads appear and how often
WiserMap campaigns can appear in the eligible sponsored placements described during ad creation, including directory discovery or listing areas and business-profile placements where enabled. They are not automatically campaigns on Google, social networks or every page of WiserMap. Placement availability and rotation depend on page traffic, matching criteria, competing eligible campaigns, approval and campaign dates. Current on-site selection uses the session, placement and a 30-minute rotation window; a rotation window is not a guaranteed display schedule. A daily price is the price of the selected campaign reach, not a promise of a fixed number of impressions or unique viewers. Review the preview, placement description, duration and checkout total before purchase.
Display is different from tracking
You can reject optional analytics and marketing while still seeing contextual Sponsored cards. Cookie settings controls optional technologies; it is not an ad-free subscription and does not remove ordinary content or necessary security logs. Where permission is required first, we do not treat scrolling, visiting a page or submitting a booking as optional advertising consent.
Measurement and advertiser reports
Where permitted and enabled, measurement records ad displays or interactions and reports campaign performance, including approximate geographic breakdowns when available. For geographic reporting, the requesting IP address may be sent to ipwho.is to obtain an approximate country, region and city. Campaign reports store aggregate counts and coarse locations rather than a raw IP address. Events of the same type for the same session, ad and placement are deduplicated for approximately 30 minutes; this is not a count of unique people. An impression normally requires at least half of the ad to be visible for one second; a view requires five seconds under the same visibility condition. Clicking a link in the card records a click and can also record an impression. These events are measured only when optional analytics is allowed. Impressions, views and clicks are different events; a view or click does not mean a customer purchased or contacted the business. Reports can be affected by repeat visits, blocked scripts, privacy choices, bot filtering, delayed processing and unavailable location data. We do not substitute estimates for recorded counts without labeling them. Advertisers are not entitled to your private account, booking or support information merely because their ad appeared.
Optional providers and sale/sharing choices
If an optional third-party advertising or analytics integration is enabled, allowing its category can permit it to receive identifiers, device information and activity covered by its notice. Such disclosures may qualify as sale or sharing under some privacy laws even without monetary payment. In regions that require permission first, WiserMap’s privacy choice control holds governed optional scripts inactive until permission is given; elsewhere they are on by default until you turn them off. A configured provider does not mean it receives every visitor’s information or is active on every page.
How to change your choice
- Open Cookie settings at the bottom of a page.
- Choose Necessary only to turn off optional categories, or Customize and save individual choices.
- Repeat on other browsers or devices if needed. A detected Global Privacy Control signal disables optional categories in that browser.
Choices persist in browser storage, subject to deletion, expiry, private browsing and material policy changes. Withdrawal stops future activation of controlled scripts and can reload the page to stop previously running integrations. It does not undo earlier lawful processing or erase third-party cookies outside our domain. Use a Privacy ticket for access, deletion, sale/sharing questions or an authorized-agent request.
Report an ad or dispute a campaign
Use Advertising support to report misleading content, inappropriate targeting or an incorrect campaign report. Include the business, page, approximate time and a screenshot if safe; do not include private booking links or payment-card data. We may investigate and restrict unlawful or policy-breaking ads. Advertiser purchases are subject to the Advertising Terms, including the stated approval, activation and refund rules, as limited by mandatory law.
“Ad Choices” here describes WiserMap’s own privacy controls. It does not assert certification by, or affiliation with, an industry advertising program. Stripe is a separate payment-service provider; using its products does not make Stripe a WiserMap brand or guarantee that every transaction is risk-free.
Questions about this page? Contact us.