Cookie Policy
Every cookie the site sets or allows, what each one does, how long it lasts, and how to change your choices.
Last updated: November 2, 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how CloudAPIcredits (https://www.cloudapicredits.com), operated by {{COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME}}, uses cookies and similar technologies. It supplements our Privacy Policy. The Site sets one cookie of its own for every visitor, two more if you choose to sign in, and, only after you accept them, allows four third-party tools to set theirs.
1. What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file that a website stores in your browser so it can recognize you on later page loads. "First-party" cookies are set by the site you are visiting. "Third-party" cookies are set by another company whose code runs on the page, such as an analytics or advertising provider. "Session" cookies disappear when you close the browser; "persistent" cookies stay until they expire or you delete them.
We also use related technologies that work like cookies: pixels (tiny images or scripts that report a page view to a third party), localStorage (a browser storage area that scripts can read), and URL parameters such as gclid or fbclid that ad platforms add to links so a visit can be matched to an ad click.
2. The categories we use
2.1 Strictly necessary
These make the Site work and cannot be switched off in the banner. They do not track you across sites. The strictly necessary cookies we set are the one that records your consent choice and, if you sign in with Google, the two that keep you signed in and protect the sign-in handshake. Our form provider also sets a short-lived anti-abuse token when you open the "Submit an offer" form, so the form can tell a person from a script.
2.2 Analytics
These tell us how the Site is used in aggregate: which provider pages people read, where they leave, which offers get clicked, and whether a comparison table is confusing. We use Google Analytics 4 (loaded through Google Tag Manager) and Microsoft Clarity. They load only after you accept analytics cookies.
2.3 Advertising and affiliate
These measure the ads we run on Google and Meta and let those platforms show our ads to past visitors. They load only after you accept advertising cookies. Affiliate network cookies belong in this category as well, but they are set on the provider's domain or the network's domain after you click out, not on ours; see Section 4.
3. Cookies on this Site
| Cookie | Set by | Category | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sph_consent | CloudAPIcredits (first party) | Strictly necessary | Stores whether you accepted or declined analytics and advertising cookies, and the date of your choice, so we do not ask again and so tags load correctly. Also records a Global Privacy Control opt-out. | 12 months |
| sph_user | CloudAPIcredits (first party) | Strictly necessary | Signed session cookie that keeps you signed in after Sign in with Google. Set only if you sign in. | 30 days or until you sign out |
| sph_oauth | CloudAPIcredits (first party) | Strictly necessary | Protects the Google sign-in handshake against forged requests. Set only while you are signing in. | 10 minutes |
| _ga | Google Analytics 4 | Analytics | Assigns a random client ID to distinguish one browser from another. | 2 years |
| ga followed by our property ID | Google Analytics 4 | Analytics | Keeps session state for our GA4 property, so a visit is counted once. | 2 years |
| _gid | Google Analytics (legacy) | Analytics | Distinguishes users for 24 hours. Set only if a legacy tag is present. | 24 hours |
| _clck | Microsoft Clarity | Analytics | Keeps a user ID and preferences so Clarity can group pageviews into a session. | 12 months |
| _clsk | Microsoft Clarity | Analytics | Links multiple pageviews into one session recording. | 1 day |
| _gcl_au | Google Ads | Advertising | Stores the Google click ID from an ad you clicked so a later conversion can be credited to the ad. | 90 days |
| _gcl_aw, _gcl_gb | Google Ads | Advertising | Hold ad click information when Google's conversion linker is active. | 90 days |
| IDE, test_cookie | Google (doubleclick.net) | Advertising | Used by Google's ad serving to measure and limit remarketing ads. | IDE: 13 months; test_cookie: 15 minutes |
| _fbp | Meta Pixel | Advertising | Identifies your browser to Meta so ad results can be measured and audiences built. | 90 days |
| _fbc | Meta Pixel | Advertising | Stores the Facebook click ID (fbclid) from an ad you clicked. | 90 days |
Durations are the defaults the providers publish and may be shorter in browsers that cap cookie lifetimes (Safari limits many script-set cookies to 7 days). Cookie names can change when a provider updates its software; we review this list at least twice a year.
4. Affiliate network click identifiers
When you click a link to a provider, you pass through one of the affiliate networks we work with (Impact, CJ Affiliate, Rakuten Advertising, Partnerize, Awin and direct partner programs), or you land directly on the provider's referral page with our referral identifier in the URL. The network adds a click identifier to the URL and, when you land on the provider's site, the network or the provider sets a cookie on its own domain to remember that the visit came from us. Typical names include irclickid (Impact), cjevent (CJ Affiliate), and gspk and gsxid (PartnerStack). Providers that run their own referral programs store the referral identifier against the new account instead of, or as well as, a cookie. Those cookies usually last 7 to 90 days, set by the provider. We cannot read or delete them because they are not on our domain. The provider's and network's privacy policies govern them.
Our own redirect records the click in a server log, not a cookie. That log is kept for 90 days, as the Privacy Policy explains.
5. How to manage cookies
5.1 In the banner
The first time you visit, a banner asks whether to allow analytics and advertising cookies. "Accept all" allows both. "Decline" allows neither. You can choose categories separately under "Manage". To change your choice later, click "Privacy choices" in the footer of any page. Declining does not delete cookies that were set before you declined; use your browser settings for that.
5.2 Google Consent Mode
Our Google tags run in consent mode. Until you accept, they are told that analytics and advertising storage are denied, and they either stay silent or send cookieless, aggregated pings that contain no identifier. When you accept, the tags are updated and begin setting the cookies listed above. When you later decline, the tags are told to stop.
5.3 Global Privacy Control
If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as "decline advertising cookies" and as an opt-out of sale and sharing for that browser, without showing you the banner for advertising. You can still accept analytics cookies if you wish.
5.4 In your browser
Every major browser lets you view, block and delete cookies. Blocking all cookies will also block the sph_consent cookie, which means the banner will appear on each visit, and it will prevent sign-in from working.
- Chrome: Settings, Privacy and security, Third-party cookies and Site settings.
- Safari: Preferences, Privacy, Manage Website Data.
- Firefox: Settings, Privacy and Security, Cookies and Site Data.
- Edge: Settings, Cookies and site permissions.
- iOS and Android: in each browser's settings menu.
5.5 Provider opt-outs
You can also opt out directly with the providers: Google's ad settings at adssettings.google.com and the Google Analytics opt-out add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout; Meta's ad preferences at facebook.com/adpreferences; and the industry tools at optout.aboutads.info and optout.networkadvertising.org.
6. What happens if you disable cookies
Declining analytics and advertising cookies has no effect on your ability to read the Site, compare offers or click through to a provider. Affiliate attribution still works because it relies on the click identifier in the URL and a cookie on the provider's or network's domain, so the credit you receive and the price you pay do not change either way. What changes is on our side: we see fewer visitors in analytics, we cannot tell which of our ads brought you here, and you may see our ads more or less often than you otherwise would.
7. Account cookies
If you sign in with Google, we set the sph_user and sph_oauth cookies described in Section 3. They are strictly necessary for the account to function and are not used for analytics or advertising. Signing out clears sph_user immediately. Deleting your account from the account page removes the stored profile and your saved providers and offers.
8. Changes and contact
We will update this Policy when the cookies we use change and will refresh the "Last updated" date. Questions go to {{PRIVACY_EMAIL}} or to {{COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME}}, {{STREET_ADDRESS}}, {{SUITE_OR_UNIT}}, {{CITY}}, TX {{ZIP}}, United States.