This page contains information for publishers using our Advanced Ads plugin or add-ons regarding how the plugins use and store data. The information provided is not legal advice but can be used to create your own privacy policy according to the laws applicable to your project and prepare for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Please consult a lawyer if you have questions regarding which information you need to provide.
Please be aware that the following statements about privacy and data storage only concern features included in Advanced Ads and not third-party tools, other plugins, or services. Advanced Ads doesn’t have access, nor can it influence data stored by ad networks like Google AdSense or services like Google Analytics. Please ensure that third-party services used through Advanced Ads comply with the privacy rules applicable to your project.
Table of Contents
Please contact us if you are missing information on this page.
Information for webmasters
IP addresses and other personal data
Advanced Ads does not store personal data in a central database. This includes our local tracking methods, which do not track IP addresses.
Google Analytics
The following features are using Google Analytics. They are all optional and disabled by default. Make sure that your site and Analytics account comply with privacy regulations before enabling them.
- Ad-Block user statistics
- Google Analytics tracking method (Tracking add-on)
The anonymizeIp feature is enabled by default. You can set the ADVANCED_ADS_DISABLE_ANALYTICS_ANONYMIZE_IP constant to disable it (not recommended).
Resource: Compliance and data usage with Google services
Cookies
Advanced Ads and some add-ons save cookies on the user’s device. These cookies are first-party cookies, which means they are only set on and readable by your site and can’t be used by other sites and services to create profiles of your visitors.
| Feature, Plugin | Cookie Name | Cookie lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| Number of previous page impressions, Advanced Ads Pro | advanced_ads_page_impressions | 183 days |
| Referrer URL, Advanced Ads Pro | advanced_ads_pro_visitor_referrer | 365 days |
| Number of previous ad impressions, Advanced Ads Pro | advanced_ads_ad_impressions_[AD_ID]advanced_ads_ad_impressions_[AD_ID]_timeout | as set in the condition |
| Number of previous ad clicks (visitor condition and Click Fraud Protection), Advanced Ads Pro | advanced_ads_ad_clicks_[AD_ID] | as set in the condition |
| Browser width, Advanced Ads Pro | advanced_ads_browser_width | 30 days |
| Timeout option, Sticky Ads and PopUp Ads | timeout_placement_[PLACEMENT_ID] | as set in options |
| Geo-location, user role, user capabilities, used by Cache Busting in Advanced Ads Pro when the appropriate visitor conditions are used | advanced_ads_visitor | 30 days |
| Set when the admin uses a frontend picker, e.g., for selecting the target of the Custom Position placement | advads_frontend_picker | 45 min |
We might further store information about admin usage, like whether the author closed a particular notification in the backend.
How to not set Cookies
You can disable certain features in order to prevent the storage and usage of cookies completely:
- Advanced Ads Pro: Click-Fraud-Protection module
- Advanced Ads Pro: Advanced Visitor Conditions module
- Advanced Ads Pro: set ADVANCED_ADS_PRO_USER_COOKIE_MAX_AGE constant in wp-config.php to 0 to disable visitor profiles
- Advanced Ads Pro: set ADVANCED_ADS_RESPONSIVE_DISABLE_BROWSER_WIDTH constant in wp-config.php to disable the browser width visitor condition. You should also resave ads that used this condition before
- Sticky Ads: don’t use the timeout feature for ads with a close button
- PopUp and Layer ads: don’t use the timeout feature for ads with a close button
- don’t use external services, like Analytics (see above) or ad networks
Please be aware that cookies already set in the user browser are not removed when a certain feature is disabled.
Selling Ads with WooCommerce
Since our Selling Ads add-on is based on WooCommerce, you need to make sure that your store also complies with GDPR. When writing this, the best overview of GDPR-related information and WooCommerce could be found here.
WP Admin
This section provides information about data in the WP Admin area, which is inaccessible for website visitors without a login.
Youtube
We are using tutorial videos hosted on youtube.com. They are disabled by default.
Resource: Compliance and data usage with Google services
Newsletter / Mailchimp
You can sign up for our newsletter through the admin panel. Our newsletter provider, mailchimp.com, will process your signup request. A confirmation email will be sent to you. Newsletters are only sent to you when you confirm your email address.