Cookie Banners: Essentials and Tips for Removal

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that websites store on users' devices to collect specific information about their browsing behavior or preferences. They help websites remember you when you revisit, enhancing your browsing experience through personalization and efficiency.

Understanding Cookie Banners

A cookie banner is a pop-up window on websites that enables web visitors to either grant consent for using cookies or decline their usage for data collection.

Will a Cookie Banner be Shown on My Simplybook Website?

By default, the cookie banner will not appear on your Simplybook.me website. It exclusively uses session cookies, which automatically clear once your client's session ends, avoiding the trigger of the cookie banner. There's the potential inclusion of tracking cookies, which only activate if you enable Google Tag Manager, Facebook tracking pixel or Google AdWords and Analytics custom feature. Enabling these features will display the cookie banner on your booking website. However, even with these features enabled, you can hide the cookie banner. To do so, navigate to Settings -> Main Configuration -> set Disable cookie banner notification on the booking site to Yes.

Will a Cookie Banner be Shown if I Integrate the Simplybook Widget into My Personal Website?

Upon integrating the Simplybook widget into your website, a cookie banner will be displayed. It informs visitors about cookie use for purposes like remembering user preferences, session management, or analytics. If Disable cookie banner notification on the booking site is set to Yes in Settings -> Main Configuration, the cookie banner will be hidden on certain devices and browsers.

Please note! disabling the cookie banner in the Simplybook admin panel won't remove the third-party cookie banner on Apple devices and in the Firefox browser due to their third-party cookies policy.

A Workaround for Removing the Cookie Banner on the Simplybook Widget

The objective is to link your booking website and your personal website where the widget is integrated within the same domain-subdomain entity. This alignment removes the third-party distinction, as the default use of different domain names for the Simplybook website and your personal website prompts the appearance of the third-party cookie banner.

To unify your personal website and the SimplyBook booking website under the same domain-subdomain structure, follow these steps:

1. For instance, let's consider your domain as "mywebsite.com." On the side of your DNS provider, you can create a subdomain, such as "booking.mywebsite.com." Creating a subdomain involves configuring your domain to establish a separate web address that is linked to a specific directory or section of your website.

2. Access the Custom Features section via the left-side menu in your admin interface. Locate and enable the Custom Domain feature.

Please note: Activating the Custom Domain feature involves a one-time cost of $129. This covers the setup of the domain/subdomain name on our end and includes an SSL certificate for enhanced security.

3. Once the feature is activated, you will see the IP address the main domain should be connected to. Go to your DNS provider, locate the DNS management panel, and create the A record where the Host is the domain name e.g. "mywebsite.com" and the Value is the IP address. Once the record is set, you need to wait for up to 48 hours for the DNS propagation to finish and insert the domain name in Custom Domain feature settings.

4. Simultaneously, integrate the widget into your personal website's subdomain.

Alternatively, you can reverse the association, linking the main domain name with the personal website and the subdomain with the Simplybook Custom Domain feature. Upon completion, your website (with the Simplybook widget) and your Simplybook booking website will share a cohesive domain-subdomain connection. This connection will remove the third-party cookie banner, as it prevents them from being treated as separate entities.