The short version
Nothing non-essential is set before you choose, in regions where consent is required. If you decline, ads still appear and analytics is switched off entirely.
Before you choose, measurement runs without cookies: Google is told in aggregate that a page was read, nothing is stored on your device, and nothing is used to recognise you.
What is set, and by whom
Two of these are strictly necessary and cannot be turned off, because they only remember choices you made yourself.
- ssm_theme (essential)
- Remembers whether you picked the light or the night theme. First-party, 1 year, no identifier.
- ssm_locale (essential)
- Remembers your chosen content language so a link does not throw you back to English. First-party, 1 year.
- ssm.recentSearches (essential)
- Local storage, not a cookie. Your last four searches, kept in your browser, never transmitted.
- _ga, _ga_* (analytics)
- Google Analytics 4. Distinguishes sessions in aggregate. 14 months. Set only with consent.
- __gads, __gpi, IDE (advertising)
- Yandex Advertising Network ad selection, frequency capping and measurement. Up to 13 months.
Changing your mind
The consent link in the footer reopens the dialogue with your current choice preselected. Clearing site data in your browser also clears every cookie above, including the essential ones — the theme and language will simply revert to their defaults.
There is no interstitial between page views on this site — we build no pop-ups of our own over what you are reading, and the advertising network runs none either.