The Ball Grid
Cookie Policy
Last updated: 7 June 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how The Ball Grid (operated by William Ingham) uses cookies and similar technologies when you visit theballgrid.com. It should be read alongside our Privacy Policy.
What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files placed on your device by a website. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently and to provide information to site owners. In addition to traditional cookies, we use browser localStorage and sessionStorage for similar purposes — these store data locally in your browser rather than sending it to a server on every request.
Table of Contents
1. Strictly Necessary Cookies (Login Sessions)
These are essential for the service to function. We use them to keep you logged in between visits. Without them, features that require an account — such as saving your results and streaks — would not work.
ballgrid_token (localStorage / sessionStorage)
When you log in to The Ball Grid, we issue a secure, randomly generated session token and store it in your browser. If you tick "Remember me" at login, the token is stored in localStorage and persists for 30 days. If you do not tick "Remember me", it is stored in sessionStorage and expires when you close your browser tab (the server-side record also expires after 24 hours).
This token contains no personal information — it is a random string that the server uses to look up your account. It is never shared with third parties.
You can clear it at any time by logging out, or by clearing your browser's site data for theballgrid.com.
2. Analytics Cookies
We do not currently use any third-party analytics cookies (such as Google Analytics). If we introduce analytics in the future, this policy will be updated before any such cookies are set.
3. Advertising Cookies (Google AdSense)
We display advertisements on The Ball Grid via Google AdSense (publisher ID: ca-pub-8727395131546409). Google uses cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this site and other sites on the internet. These are set by Google, not by us.
What these cookies do
- Identify your browser or device across websites to build a profile of your interests
- Show you ads that are more relevant to you (personalised advertising)
- Measure how many users see and click on ads (ad performance measurement)
- Limit how often you see the same ad (frequency capping)
- Detect and prevent invalid traffic and click fraud
Key cookies set by Google
| Cookie | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| IDE | Used by Google DoubleClick to register and report user actions after viewing or clicking an ad, for the purpose of measuring ad effectiveness and showing targeted ads. | Up to 13 months |
| ANID | Used for advertising, to provide relevant ads to users based on past visits and to measure ad effectiveness. | 13 months |
| NID | Stores user preferences and other information, including preferred language, number of search results, and whether Google's SafeSearch filter is active. | 6 months |
| DSID | Used to identify a signed-in user on non-Google sites in order to serve personalised ads. | 2 weeks |
| __gads / __gpi | Set by Google Ad Manager to register ad impressions and measure their effectiveness. | 13 months |
This list is not exhaustive. Google may set additional cookies as part of its advertising infrastructure. For a full list, see Google's cookie policy.
Legal basis
In the EEA and UK, personalised advertising cookies require your consent. By continuing to use this site you are consenting to these cookies being set. You may withdraw consent at any time using the opt-out options below.
4. Cookie Summary Table
| Category | Set by | Purpose | Duration | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Session token (localStorage) | The Ball Grid | Keeps you logged in | 30 days ("Remember me") or browser session | For logged-in features only |
| Analytics | None | — | — | Not used |
| Advertising (personalised) | Google AdSense | Targeted ads, frequency capping, fraud detection | Up to 13 months | No — opt out below |
5. How to Manage or Opt Out
Browser settings
All modern browsers allow you to view, block, or delete cookies. Blocking all cookies will prevent the login session token from being stored, which means you will be logged out each time you close your browser. Instructions for common browsers:
Opt out of Google personalised advertising
You can opt out of Google's use of cookies for personalised advertising in any of the following ways:
- Visit Google Ad Settings to manage your personalised ad preferences
- Install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
- Use the NAI opt-out tool to opt out of interest-based advertising from multiple networks at once
- Use the Your Online Choices tool (EEA users)
- Use the DAA opt-out tool (US users)
Opting out of personalised ads does not mean you will see fewer ads — it means the ads shown to you will be less tailored to your interests.
Do Not Track
We do not currently respond to Do Not Track (DNT) browser signals, as no uniform standard has been adopted. Third-party ad providers such as Google may or may not honour DNT signals independently.
6. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time. Any changes will be reflected by the updated date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review it periodically.
7. Contact
If you have any questions about our use of cookies, please contact us at hello@theballgrid.com.