Cookies & Advertising

What gets stored on your device, where ads come from, and what happens if you block them.

1. In one paragraph

We set no tracking cookies of our own. We use localStorage to remember your free download count and a handful of recently looked-up avatars. Advertising comes from Google AdSense, which may set its own cookies. If ads are blocked, we pause the download button — we do not try to work around your blocker.

2. First-party storage (localStorage)

instasnap:quota — how many free downloads you have used.
instasnap:avatar-cache:* — recently resolved avatar URLs for instant re-display.
instasnap:recents — up to 8 usernames you typed.
instasnap:user — your Google profile snapshot, only if you sign in.
instasnap:adblock-state — a timestamp for the blocker notice acknowledgement.

All of it is removed by clearing site data in your browser. Nothing is recoverable because nothing reaches us.

3. Advertising

AdSense publisher ID in use: ca-pub-0000000000000000 demo mode

We serve:

Banner units above, inside and below the content, clearly labelled “Advertisement”.
Occasional full-screen interstitials, shown after a download with a countdown-gated close button.

Google and its partners may use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. You can opt out of personalised advertising at Google My Ad Center or at aboutads.info.

4. Why blocking ads disables downloads

Ad revenue is the entire budget for the servers and bandwidth behind this Service. When our page detects that ad requests are being blocked, we show an explanation and hold the download button until ads are allowed — the page then unlocks by itself within about a second. This is not a trick, not a redirect and not a fake download button: the notice simply tells you what to allow.

If you prefer to keep blocking, you are of course free to browse. You simply keep the single free download you get as a visitor.

5. Third parties on this site

Google AdSense — ad delivery and ad-related cookies.
Google Firebase Authentication — only if you sign in.
CORS request relays — used to fetch public Instagram markup; they see the requested URL and your IP.
Hosting provider — standard access logs for security and uptime.

6. Opting out

Google personalised ads: My Ad Center.
Third-party cookies in your browser settings.
Clear site data to remove every localStorage entry.

7. Contact

Privacy questions: hello@instasnap.example.com.