This Cookie Policy explains how Ratedeed, Inc. ("Ratedeed," "we," "us," or "our") uses cookies and similar tracking technologies when you visit our website at www.ratedeed.com and use our contractor marketplace Platform (including our mobile applications). This policy should be read alongside our Privacy Policy, which provides more general information about how we collect, use, and protect your personal data.
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, smartphone, or other device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, provide a better browsing experience, and supply information to the owners of the site. Cookies allow websites to recognize your device and remember information about your visit, such as your preferred language, login status, and other settings.
Cookies can be "persistent" (remaining on your device until they expire or you delete them) or "session" cookies (which are deleted when you close your browser). Cookies can be set by the website you are visiting ("first-party cookies") or by third-party services operating on that website ("third-party cookies"). This policy covers all cookies and similar technologies used on the Ratedeed Platform.
2. How We Use Cookies
We use cookies on the Ratedeed Platform for the following purposes:
Essential Functionality: Certain cookies are strictly necessary for the Platform to function properly. These enable core features such as user authentication, secure login sessions, shopping cart and escrow functionality, and load balancing. Without these cookies, the Platform would not work as intended.
Preferences and Personalization: We use cookies to remember your preferences and settings, such as your preferred language, location, search filters, notification settings, and display preferences. This helps us provide a more personalized and relevant experience when you return to the Platform.
Analytics and Performance:We use cookies (including those provided by analytics services such as Google Analytics) to understand how visitors interact with the Platform. This includes pages visited, time spent on pages, navigation paths, features used, and error messages encountered. This information helps us improve the Platform's performance, content, and usability.
Advertising and Marketing: We and our advertising partners use cookies to deliver relevant advertisements on the Platform and across third-party websites. These cookies help us track the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns, limit the number of times you see the same ad, and measure the results of promotional campaigns. They may also be used to build interest-based profiles to show you ads that are more relevant to your interests.
Security and Fraud Prevention: We use cookies to detect and prevent fraudulent activity, protect against unauthorized access, and maintain the security of the Platform. These cookies help us identify suspicious login attempts, prevent account takeover, and ensure the integrity of escrow transactions.
3. Types of Cookies We Use
Below is a detailed breakdown of the categories of cookies we use on the Platform, along with examples of each type:
3.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential for the Platform to function and cannot be disabled. They are typically set in response to actions you take, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or filling out forms. You can configure your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the Platform may not function properly as a result.
Cookie Name
Purpose
Duration
ratedeed_session
Maintains your authenticated session while logged in
Session
csrf_token
Prevents cross-site request forgery attacks
Session
cookie_consent
Stores your cookie consent preferences
1 year
rate_limiter
Prevents abuse by limiting request frequency
15 minutes
3.2 Performance and Analytics Cookies
These cookies collect information about how visitors use the Platform, such as which pages are visited most often, how users navigate between pages, and whether error messages are encountered. All information collected by these cookies is aggregated and anonymized. We use this data to improve how the Platform works.
Cookie Name
Purpose
Duration
_ga
Google Analytics — distinguishes unique visitors
2 years
_ga_*
Google Analytics 4 — maintains session state
2 years
_gid
Google Analytics — distinguishes unique visitors within 24 hours
These cookies allow the Platform to remember choices you make (such as your preferred service area, contractor category filters, and notification settings) and provide enhanced, personalized features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts, and other customizable elements of the Platform.
Cookie Name
Purpose
Duration
user_location
Remembers your selected service location
30 days
search_prefs
Saves your preferred search filters and categories
90 days
theme_pref
Stores your light/dark mode preference
1 year
notification_seen
Tracks which notifications you have dismissed
Session
3.4 Advertising Cookies
These cookies are used to deliver advertisements that are relevant to you and your interests. They also help limit the number of times you see an advertisement and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. These cookies are usually placed by advertising networks with our permission. They remember that you have visited the Platform and this information may be shared with other organizations, such as advertisers.
Cookie Name
Purpose
Duration
_fbp
Meta (Facebook) Pixel — ad tracking and conversion measurement
90 days
_gcl_au
Google Ads — conversion linker for ad click tracking
90 days
ads_prefs
Stores your ad personalization preferences
2 years
4. Third-Party Cookies
In addition to our own cookies, we may use cookies set by third-party services that operate on our Platform or that we partner with. These third parties include:
Google Analytics: We use Google Analytics to collect and analyze website usage data. Google Analytics uses cookies to track visitor interactions. The data collected is processed by Google in accordance with its privacy policy. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Google Ads / Google Marketing Platform:We use Google's advertising services to deliver relevant ads and measure campaign performance. These services may set cookies on your device to track ad impressions, clicks, and conversions.
Meta (Facebook) Pixel: We use the Meta Pixel to measure the effectiveness of our advertising on Facebook and Instagram, build custom audiences for ad targeting, and understand actions taken on our Platform after viewing an ad.
Stripe: Our payment processor Stripe uses cookies to securely process payments through the escrow system and prevent fraud. These cookies are essential for payment functionality.
Cloudflare: We use Cloudflare for content delivery, DDoS protection, and security. Cloudflare may set cookies to identify trusted web traffic and provide security features.
We do not control the setting of third-party cookies, and we encourage you to review the privacy policies of these third-party service providers to understand their cookie practices. Third-party cookies are subject to the privacy policies of the respective third parties.
5. Managing Your Cookie Preferences
You have several options for managing cookies on the Ratedeed Platform:
5.1 Managing Cookies on Our Platform
Our platform operates primarily using first-party cookies required for core functionality (such as user authentication, session state, and security). Since our service is intended exclusively for US-based audiences, we do not present a granular cookie consent banner. You can manage or disable all cookies directly via your web browser settings.
5.2 Browser Settings
Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can set your browser to refuse all cookies, accept only first-party cookies, delete cookies when you close your browser, or block cookies from specific websites. The steps to manage cookies vary by browser. Consult your browser's help documentation for specific instructions:
Google Chrome: Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data
Mozilla Firefox: Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data
Apple Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data
Microsoft Edge: Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Manage and delete cookies
5.3 Opt-Out Links
You can opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies through the following industry opt-out programs:
If you access the Platform via a mobile application, you can manage your advertising identifier settings through your mobile device's operating system settings. On iOS, go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking. On Android, go to Settings > Google > Ads > Delete advertising ID.
Please note: Disabling or rejecting certain cookies may impact the functionality of the Platform. If you disable strictly necessary cookies, you may not be able to log in, use the escrow system, or access certain features. We recommend keeping essential cookies enabled for the best experience.
6. Other Tracking Technologies
In addition to cookies, we may use the following tracking technologies:
Local Storage and Session Storage:We use HTML5 local storage and session storage (sometimes collectively referred to as "DOM storage") to store data locally on your device. This is similar to cookies but can store larger amounts of data and is not automatically sent with every HTTP request. We use local storage to save your preferences, recently viewed contractors, and project drafts.
Web Beacons (Pixel Tags): We and our partners may use web beacons (also known as pixel tags or clear GIFs) — small, transparent images embedded in web pages and emails — to track page views, email open rates, and user interactions. Web beacons help us measure the effectiveness of our communications and understand user engagement.
Device Fingerprinting: In certain circumstances, we may use device fingerprinting techniques to identify your device based on its configuration characteristics (such as browser type, screen resolution, installed fonts, and plugins). This helps us detect fraud, prevent abuse, and maintain platform security without relying solely on cookies.
7. Changes to This Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the cookies we use, changes in technology, or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If we make material changes that affect your cookie consent, we will seek your renewed consent before implementing such changes (for example, by re-displaying the cookie consent banner).
We encourage you to periodically review this Cookie Policy to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. Your continued use of the Platform after any changes to this Cookie Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
8. Contact Us
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or this Cookie Policy, please contact us: