Privacy Policy

Legal

This policy covers what data we collect, why, and what we do with it. No legal fog. No buried gotchas. If something in here surprises you, that's a failure on our part.

Quick Summary

What you need to know

The calculator never sends your data anywhere. All math happens locally in your browser.
We use Google Analytics 4 for anonymized traffic data only. No PII collected.
We don't sell, rent, or trade your data. Not now, not ever.
We use analytics cookies and ad network cookies (for display advertising). Full list in Section 4.
We don't create user profiles or track individuals across other websites.
Questions? Use our contact form and we'll respond promptly.

Information We Collect

Two things to understand here: what happens when you use the calculator, and what the site itself picks up from your visit. They're very different.

Calculator Inputs

Type in an ad spend, a click count, whatever. None of it goes anywhere. The calculator runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript, so your numbers never touch our servers. Close the tab and they're gone. We built it that way on purpose: a PPC tool that stores your campaign data would be a weird thing to trust.

Zero server-side data from calculator use. Your ad budget, your campaign numbers, your competitive intelligence. None of it touches our infrastructure.

Analytics Data

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how people use the site. Not who they are, just what they do. The setup collects anonymized data: which pages you visit, how long you stay, what country you're in (not city), what device you're on, your browser type, and where you came from (search, direct, social). That's it. No names, no emails, no IP addresses stored in identifiable form.

Cookies

We set analytics cookies from GA4 and advertising cookies from Google's ad network (if you see display ads on the site). The ad cookies can be used to show you relevant ads based on your browsing history elsewhere. Full breakdown in Section 4, including how to turn any of this off.

How We Use Information

One reason: we look at anonymized GA4 data to understand what's working on the site. Which pages people actually read, where the calculator gets confusing, whether mobile visitors have a worse experience than desktop ones. That kind of thing. We don't have a second reason.

What we don't do with any data we have:

  • Sell or rent it. Not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to anyone. This is non-negotiable regardless of what the site earns in the future.
  • Use it to target you with ads. The ad network (Google AdSense) decides what ads you see based on your broader browsing history. We don't feed them behavioral data we collected.
  • Build profiles on individual users. We see aggregate patterns, not individual ones. "30% of visitors use mobile" yes. "This specific person visited 14 times" no.
  • Track you after you leave. No pixels, no fingerprinting, no re-targeting scripts. Once you close the tab, we lose you.

Practically speaking: the analytics data helps us answer questions like "are mobile users bailing on the calculator before they get a result?" or "is the CPC benchmarks page ranking for anything?" Nothing more invasive than that.

Third-Party Services

Three outside services run on this site. Here's what each one does and what Google does with the data.

Google Analytics 4

Standard site analytics. Google processes this data under its own privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy. Worth knowing: Google can use anonymized, aggregated analytics data to improve its own products. That's the trade-off for a free analytics tool.

Google Fonts

The Inter typeface loads from Google's CDN. When that happens, Google's servers receive a standard HTTP request that includes your IP address. Google's privacy policy covers what they do with that. What they don't get is anything about the page you're on or what you did here.

Display Advertising Networks

If ads appear on this site, they're served by Google AdSense. Google uses cookies (specifically the DoubleClick IDE cookie) to show ads based on your browsing history across other sites. We don't control which ads show up, and we don't pass Google any data about what you did here. They already have their own picture of you from across the web.

You can opt out of Google's ad personalization at google.com/settings/ads, or opt out of interest-based advertising from multiple networks at aboutads.info. Opting out doesn't stop ads from showing; it just makes them generic instead of targeted.

We're not responsible for the content or privacy practices of any advertiser whose ad appears on this site.

Affiliate and Partner Links

Some pages link to PPC tools we think are worth knowing about. When those links are affiliate or sponsored, they're marked with rel="nofollow sponsored" attributes and called out in the content itself. Clicking takes you to a third-party site with its own data practices. Check their privacy policy before handing over any personal information. We don't embed third-party chat widgets, social pixels, or comment systems, so nothing else is quietly running in the background.

Cookies and Tracking

Cookies are small files your browser stores when you visit a site. Here's everything we set and why:

How to Opt Out

You've got real options here, not just a checkbox that doesn't do anything:

  • Browser settings. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge all let you block third-party cookies under Settings. This won't break the calculator or any other feature on the site. You'll just see generic ads instead of targeted ones, if ads are running.
  • Google Ad personalization. Go to google.com/settings/ads to turn off personalized ads across Google's network. Ads keep showing; they just stop following you around based on what you've been browsing.
  • Broader opt-out. aboutads.info and networkadvertising.org/choices let you opt out of interest-based advertising from dozens of networks at once.
  • Google Analytics Opt-Out Extension. A free browser extension from Google that stops GA from collecting data on any site you visit: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
  • Private or incognito mode stops cookies from persisting after you close the window. Not a perfect shield, but better than nothing for one-off visits.
EU / EEA visitors: GDPR requires consent before advertising cookies get set on your device. We're building a cookie consent banner for European visitors. Until that's live, the opt-out links above are your best option for controlling ad personalization.

Children's Privacy

This site is for digital marketers and people running paid ad campaigns. It's not for kids. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.

Because the calculator never transmits data and analytics are anonymized, there's genuinely not much that could be collected from a minor visiting the site anyway. But if you think a child under 13 has submitted personal information here somehow, contact us right away and we'll sort it out.

If you're a teenager running Google Ads for your own project, that's legitimately cool. Just know that PPC campaigns involve real money and parents probably want to be in that conversation.

Data Retention

Short version: we don't keep much because we don't collect much.

  • Calculator inputs: Never stored anywhere. They live in your browser tab and disappear when you close it.
  • Google Analytics data: GA4 defaults to 2 months retention. We've set ours to 14 months (the maximum for a free property). After that, Google deletes user-level and event-level data automatically. Standard aggregated reports aren't affected by this setting.
  • Contact form submissions: If you write to us, we keep your message long enough to reply and close the loop. We don't add you to any list.

We have no user accounts, so there's no account data sitting around. If Google changes how Analytics retention works, this section will reflect that.

Your Rights (GDPR / CCPA)

Where you live determines what rights you have. Here's what applies to this site:

🇪🇺 EU / EEA Visitors (GDPR)

You can ask us what personal data we hold about you, request a correction or deletion, object to processing, and ask for a portable copy of your data. You can also complain to your national data protection authority if you think we've handled something wrong.

🇺🇸 California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

Under the CCPA as amended by the CPRA (effective January 2023): you have the right to know what's collected, delete it, correct inaccurate info, limit how sensitive personal information gets used, and opt out of the sale or sharing of your data. We don't sell or share data, so those last two rights are already satisfied on our end.

Realistically, since GA4 anonymizes data before storing it, a deletion request sent to us won't return identifiable records. There's nothing to link back to you specifically. But the rights still exist, and we'll respond to any request within 30 days. No charge, no retaliation for asking.

Send requests through the contact form.

Changes to This Policy

If we add new features, start using a different analytics tool, or bring on an ad network partner we haven't mentioned, this policy gets updated. The "Last updated" date at the top changes when the policy does.

We won't email you about changes because we don't have your email. If this stuff matters to you, bookmark the page. Continuing to use the site after a policy change means you accept the updated terms.

What counts as a material change: New data we collect, new third parties we share it with, changes to how long we keep it, or changes to your rights under this policy. Fixing a typo doesn't get a new date.

Contact Us

Got a question about this policy? Something doesn't make sense? Use the contact form. We read everything and respond to privacy questions within 5 business days, formal data access or deletion requests within 30.

Contact Us →