Cookie policy
What Down.Town stores in your browser, what Google's advertising cookies do, and how to change your mind. Last updated 29 October 2026.
The short version
- Down.Town itself doesn't set cookies. It keeps a few small items in your browser's storage so the site remembers your choices.
- Google AdSense uses cookies to show ads. Choose "Essential only" for non-personalised ads.
- Video players and the map load only when you ask for them.
- You can reset your choice below at any time.
Change your choice
Resetting removes your saved cookie choice and reloads the page, so the cookie notice appears again and you can pick "Essential only" or "Accept all".
If the button doesn't work in your browser, clear this site's cookies and storage (usually under site settings or privacy settings for down.town) and reload. That also clears your saved guides and Get matched progress.
What cookies and browser storage are
Cookies are small text files a website, or a service it uses, can store in your browser. Local storage and session storage are similar: they let a site keep small pieces of information on your device. Some of this is essential for a site to work as you expect; some, such as advertising cookies, needs your consent in many places.
Essential and functional storage (set by Down.Town)
These items live in your browser's storage on your device. Down.Town's own scripts set them, and none of them is used for advertising.
| Name | What it does | How long | Sent anywhere? |
|---|---|---|---|
| dt-consent | Remembers your answer to the cookie notice ("Essential only" or "Accept all") | Until you clear it or reset it above | No |
| dt-theme | Remembers whether you chose the light or dark theme | Until you clear it | No |
| dt-saved | Your saved list of guides and tools | Until you remove items or clear it | No |
| dt-funnel | Your progress through Get matched, so you can come back later. It doesn't keep your email address or phone number | Until you send the request or press "Start over" | No |
| dt-lead | The date you last sent a request, so we don't prompt you to send another | Until you clear it | No |
| dt-xm | The date we last showed the "Before you go" prompt, so it appears no more than once a week | Until you clear it | No |
| dt-attr (session storage) | How your visit began: the referring website, the first page you landed on and any campaign tags in the link | Until you close the tab | Only with a form you choose to send |
Because these items are needed for features you use, or are limited to forms you send, they are kept whichever choice you make in the cookie notice.
Advertising cookies (Google AdSense)
Down.Town shows ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads, limit how often you see the same ad, measure how ads perform, prevent fraud and, where you allow it, personalise ads to your interests.
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this website or other websites.
- Google's use of advertising cookies, including the DoubleClick cookie, enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to Down.Town and/or other sites on the internet.
- Examples include cookies Google sets on this site (such as __gads and __gpi) and the DoubleClick cookie on doubleclick.net. Google's own pages give the current, complete list.
Your choices
- Essential only tells Google to show non-personalised ads, which are not based on your past browsing. Google may still use cookies or similar technologies with them for frequency capping, aggregated reporting and to combat fraud and abuse.
- Accept all allows personalised ads.
- European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland. Visitors from these regions see Google's certified consent message, which asks for consent before personalised ads and advertising cookies are used, and stores your answer in its own cookie. That message also offers a way to revisit your choice; clearing this site's cookies brings it back too.
- Opt out everywhere. Turn off personalised advertising in Google's Ads Settings, and opt out of some third-party vendors at aboutads.info/choices.
Learn more about how Google uses cookies in advertising.
Videos, maps and fonts
- YouTube. Videos use YouTube's privacy-enhanced (youtube-nocookie) player, which loads only when you press play. Before that, only the preview image is fetched from YouTube's image server. Once a video plays, YouTube may store information in your browser under its own policy.
- OpenStreetMap. The map on the city directory loads tiles from OpenStreetMap, and its mapping library from the cdnjs network, only when you choose to open it.
- Google Fonts. Your browser requests our typefaces from Google's servers on each page.
Blocking cookies in your browser
Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies and site storage, either for all sites or for down.town alone. The site still works if you do; it simply won't remember your theme, cookie choice, saved guides or Get matched progress.
More information
How we handle personal information, including what is sent with forms, is explained in the privacy policy. Questions? Use the contact form or email us.