Four kinds of cookie, and what happens if you refuse each one.

Nothing on this site is gated, so blocking cookies costs you nothing as a reader. This page explains what each category does, how affiliate tracking actually works, and how to switch any of it off.

Last updated: 27 July 2026

Applies to creatorgearinsider.com

Written in plain English

The short version

Cookies are small text files a website asks your browser to store. Creator Gear uses a small number of them: some are needed for the site to work, some tell us which guides are being read, and some are set by affiliate networks so that a retailer knows a purchase came from here. That last category is how this site is funded.

You can refuse or delete any of them. Nothing on this site is behind a login, so blocking cookies will not stop you reading anything.

What cookies actually are

A cookie is a small file containing a short piece of text, stored by your browser and sent back to the site that set it. They exist because the web is otherwise stateless — without them, a site cannot tell that two page requests came from the same person.

Cookies set by the site you are visiting are called first-party cookies. Cookies set by another domain whose content or services appear on the page are called third-party cookies. Related technologies, including local storage and tracking pixels, do similar jobs by different means; where we refer to cookies below, we mean all of them.

The categories we use

Rather than list individual cookie names, which change whenever a provider updates their service, here is what each category does and what happens if you refuse it.

Category	What it does	Set by	If you refuse it
Strictly necessary	Keeps the site secure and functioning — for example, remembering your cookie preferences themselves.	Creator Gear (first party)	The site may not function correctly. These are not used to track you.
Analytics	Tells us which guides are read, roughly how long for, and which links are followed.	Third-party analytics provider	Nothing changes for you. We simply have less information about which guides are useful.
Affiliate tracking	Allows a retailer to recognise that you arrived from Creator Gear, so any resulting commission is attributed correctly.	Affiliate networks and retailers	You can still follow every link and buy anything you like. We simply earn nothing from it.
Preferences	Remembers choices you have made, so you are not asked the same question on every visit.	Creator Gear (first party)	You may be asked to set preferences again on each visit.

How affiliate cookies work, in plain terms

This is the category people ask about most, so it is worth being explicit. When you click a link to a retailer from one of our guides, the retailer’s affiliate network sets a cookie in your browser recording that the visit originated here. If you then buy something within a certain window — the length varies by programme, and is often quite short — the retailer pays us a percentage of the sale.

You pay exactly the same price, because the commission comes from the retailer’s margin. We do not see what you bought, your payment details, or your account with that retailer. And refusing affiliate cookies does not stop you buying anything — it only stops the sale being attributed to us.

If you would rather not contribute to this site financially but still want to use our research, simply search for the product yourself rather than following our link. We would genuinely rather you had the information.

Third-party cookies

Third-party cookies are set by companies other than us, and are governed by their own policies rather than this one. On this site they come from analytics providers and affiliate networks. Once you follow a link to an external retailer you are on their site, subject to their cookie policy and their privacy policy — we have no control over either, and we would encourage you to read them.

Managing and deleting cookies

You are in control of cookies at the browser level, and every major browser lets you block or delete them. The exact steps differ, but you will find the controls under settings, generally within a section named privacy, security or site data.

Blocking third-party cookies alone will stop affiliate and most analytics tracking, while leaving ordinary browsing intact. Deleting existing cookies clears anything already stored, including affiliate attribution. Private or incognito browsing discards cookies when you close the window. And a content blocker will block most tracking cookies by default — we will not ask you to disable it.

Blocking cookies will not prevent you from reading anything on Creator Gear. There is no paywall, no login and no gated content.

Do Not Track and global privacy signals

Some browsers can send a signal indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. There is no universally agreed standard for how sites should respond, and support among third-party providers is inconsistent. We do not rely on this signal as a substitute for your cookie choices — the browser controls described above are more reliable, and we would encourage you to use them.

Changes to this policy

This policy will be updated if we change analytics provider, join a new affiliate programme, or alter how the site works. The date at the top of the page reflects the most recent revision.

Questions

If anything here is unclear, or you would like to know exactly which providers are in use at the moment, email hello@creatorgearinsider.com and we will tell you. See also our privacy policy and affiliate disclosure.

Questions about this policy?

If anything here is unclear, or does not match your experience of using the site, we would like to know. Corrections to our own policies count too.

Four kinds of cookie, and what happens if you refuse each one.

On this page

Prefer not to contribute?