What really happens when you tap a referral link

If you have followed a creator's recommendation to a local place, you may have tapped a KUPELY link on the way. It is reasonable to wonder what that link does. Here is a plain explanation.

The link's only job

A referral link has one purpose: to take you to the business the creator recommended, and to credit that creator for sending you. When you tap it, you are taken straight to the business, either to its own website or to its page on KUPELY, where you can see the address, hours, and photos.

You do not need an account, and following a link costs you nothing. The business pays the creator, not you.

Why the creator gets credit

Creators on KUPELY are paid when their recommendations lead to results the business has chosen to pay for, such as a visit through the link, a press of the Directions button, or a saved enquiry form. To know which creator sent you, the link needs to recognise that the visit came from them.

That is also why the same person tapping the same link several times is only counted once. Creators are paid for bringing new people, not for repeated taps.

What the link remembers

To credit the right creator, KUPELY stores a small first-party identifier in your browser when you follow a link. It is random, it is set by KUPELY itself, and it is used to recognise that a later step on the same business page came from the same visit. It is not used to follow you around other websites.

This counts as essential, which is why it is set even if you choose only essential cookies. Without it, creators could not be credited fairly and repeat taps could not be told apart from new visitors.

What the cookie banner is asking

The first time you visit, you will see a short banner titled "Your privacy at KUPELY." It offers a clear choice:

• Continue with essentials. Only what the site needs to work: security, sign-in, crediting the creator who referred you, and remembering your choice.

• Allow all. Also loads a few optional services: Google Maps to show places on a map, social video embeds to play creator videos on the page, and Google Analytics to understand visits to KUPELY.

• Manage preferences. Pick the optional services one by one.

If you continue with essentials, the site still works. Maps use a non-Google fallback, and creator videos open on their own platform instead of playing inside the page.

What we do not do

• We do not sell your data.

• We do not track you across the web.

• We do not need your name or email to credit a creator.

If you want to exercise your privacy rights, including a Do Not Sell or Share request, you can do that through the links in the site footer, and our privacy policy explains what is kept and for how long.

The bottom line

Tapping a creator's link sends you to a place they think you will like, and makes sure they get credit for the recommendation. It does not cost you anything and it does not follow you anywhere else. If you enjoy the place, the best thanks you can give is to tell someone else about it.