Cookie Policy
Effective Date: February 5th, 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how Best of Chicago Business Directory ("we," "us," or "our") uses cookies and similar technologies when you visit our website, business.bestofchicago.directory (the "Site"). It explains what these technologies are, why we use them, and your rights to control our use of them.
1. What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by website owners to make their websites work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information. Cookies help us remember your preferences and improve your browsing experience.
Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, Best of Chicago) are called "first-party cookies." Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called "third-party cookies." Third-party cookies enable third-party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website (e.g., advertising, interactive content, and analytics).
2. How We Use Cookies
We use first-party and third-party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Site to operate, and we refer to these as "essential" or "strictly necessary" cookies. Other cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Site. Third parties serve cookies through our Site for advertising, analytics, and other purposes. The specific types of first and third-party cookies served through our Site and the purposes they perform are described below:
a. Essential Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our Site and to use some of its features, such as accessing secure areas. Without these cookies, services you have asked for cannot be provided.
- Purpose: To enable you to log in, navigate the Site, remember your preferences, and ensure security.
- Examples: Session cookies that maintain your login status.
b. Performance and Analytics Cookies
These cookies collect information about how visitors use our Site, for instance, which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies do not collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how our Site works.
- Purpose: To understand how our Site is being used, measure the effectiveness of our content, and improve user experience.
- Examples: Google Analytics cookies (see Section 3 for more details).
c. Functionality Cookies
These cookies allow our Site to remember choices you make (such as your username, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for, such as watching a video or commenting on a blog.
- Purpose: To remember your preferences and personalize your experience.
- Examples: Cookies remembering your display settings.
d. Advertising and Targeting Cookies
These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.
- Purpose: To deliver relevant advertisements and track advertising campaign performance.
- Examples: Cookies from advertising networks (e.g., Google Ads, social media platforms).
3. Third-Party Cookies
Some cookies on our Site are not set by Best of Chicago but by third parties, such as:
- Google Analytics: We use Google Analytics to collect information about how visitors use our Site. This information helps us to compile reports and to improve the Site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the Site, where visitors have come to the Site from, and the pages they visited. Click here for an overview of privacy at Google.
- Social Media Platforms: We may embed content from or include links to social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). These platforms may set their own cookies when you interact with their content or navigate to their sites.
- Advertising Partners: Our advertising partners may use cookies to deliver advertisements that they believe are most relevant to you.
We do not have control over third-party cookies. Please review the respective privacy and cookie policies of these third parties for more information about their practices.
4. How to Control Cookies
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie preferences by modifying your browser settings.
- Browser Controls: Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can typically find these settings in the "options" or "preferences" menu of your browser.
- To find out more about how to manage cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
- Opt-Out of Google Analytics: You can opt-out of Google Analytics tracking by installing Google's opt-out browser add-on, which is available here.
- Advertising Opt-Out: You can opt-out of interest-based advertising from many third-party advertising networks through the following resources:
Please note that if you choose to disable cookies, some features of our Site and Services may not function properly or may become unavailable.
5. Changes to Our Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. Please revisit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. The date at the top of this Cookie Policy indicates when it was last updated.
6. Contact Us
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please contact us:
- By email: hello@bestofchicago.directory
- Our Contact form: Click here.