Advertising Policy

Last updated: April 2026

Bear Arcade is a free browser gaming platform. We rely on advertising revenue to keep our platform running and our games free for everyone. This policy explains how we handle advertising, what types of ads you will see, and how you can control your ad experience.

Our Ad Promise

We believe that advertising should never ruin your gaming experience. While ads help us keep Bear Arcade free, we are committed to showing them in a way that is respectful, transparent, and non-disruptive. Here is what we guarantee to every user:

No pop-up advertisements — we will never show pop-up or pop-under ads that interrupt your browsing
No auto-play video ads — you will never encounter video ads that play automatically with sound
No misleading ad placements — ads are clearly labeled and will never be disguised as game content, buttons, or navigation elements
No interstitial ads — we will never show full-screen ads between game sessions or page transitions
Limited ad density — a maximum of 2 ad placements per page to keep the experience clean
Standard formats only — we use industry-standard IAB ad formats (leaderboard and rectangle) that are familiar and unobtrusive
No malicious ads — we work exclusively with trusted ad partners and monitor for any ads that attempt to mislead or harm users

Who Sees Ads

All users on Bear Arcade may see advertisements. Ads appear on the game library page and on individual game detail pages in designated ad slots. Ads are never shown during active gameplay — your gaming session is always ad-free.

Why We Show Ads

Advertising is how Bear Arcade sustains itself as a free platform. Revenue from ads helps us cover server costs, maintain the platform, curate new games, and develop new features for our community. By supporting ads, our users directly contribute to keeping Bear Arcade available for everyone at no cost.

Ad Partners

We use Google AdSense as our primary advertising partner. Google is one of the most trusted advertising networks in the world, and they adhere to strict policies about ad quality and safety. Google may use cookies to serve ads based on your interests and browsing history across different websites. You can learn more about Google's ad practices at their advertising policies page.

Affiliate and Sponsored Content

In addition to Google AdSense, Bear Arcade may display sponsored affiliate content from third-party partners. These are paid placements — when you click on an affiliate ad and make a purchase or take an action on the partner's website, Bear Arcade may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

All affiliate and sponsored content on Bear Arcade is:

Clearly labeled — every affiliate ad carries a visible "Sponsored" badge so you always know it is a paid placement
Properly attributed — affiliate links use rel="nofollow sponsored" attributes to comply with search engine guidelines
Vetted for policy compliance — we only accept affiliate content in approved categories (gaming, technology, education, entertainment, etc.) and reject any content that violates Google AdSense content policies
Separate from editorial decisions — sponsored content does not influence which games are featured, how games are ranked, or any editorial content on the platform

Ad Personalization and Privacy

When you first visit Bear Arcade, our cookie consent banner gives you the choice to accept or decline advertising cookies. If you accept, Google may personalize the ads you see based on your interests. If you decline, you will still see ads, but they will not be personalized to your browsing activity.

We implement Google Consent Mode v2 to ensure your preferences are respected. We do not collect, store, or share any personal information for advertising purposes beyond what is handled by Google through their standard AdSense integration.

Controlling Your Ad Experience

You have several options for managing the ads you see on Bear Arcade:

Cookie preferences: Use our cookie consent banner to opt out of personalized advertising
Google Ad Settings: Visit Google's ad settings to manage ad personalization across all Google-served ads
Browser extensions: Ad-blocking browser extensions can reduce the ads you see, though we kindly ask you to consider supporting our platform by allowing ads

Reporting Inappropriate Ads

If you encounter an ad that is inappropriate, misleading, offensive, or appears to be malicious, please report it to us immediately through our contact form. Include a description of the ad and the page where you saw it so we can investigate and take action. We take ad quality seriously and will work with our ad partners to remove any ads that violate our standards.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Advertising Policy from time to time. Any significant changes will be communicated through a notice on our website. We encourage you to review this page periodically for the latest information about our advertising practices.