What is consent mode?
A cookie banner asks the visitor for permission. But the tracking codes on your website must also include that choice. to know. Consent mode is the language in which your website tells the Google tags: this visitor has allowed analytical cookies, but refused marketing cookies. The tags then behave accordingly.
Without consent mode, one of two things happens: the tags ignore the choice and set cookies anyway (violating the law), or the tags are not loaded at all and you track nothing from visitors who decline. Consent mode is the middle ground: the choice is followed, yet you maintain an overview of the total.
What does consent mode do in case of a refusal?
That is the smart part. If a visitor declines, the Google tags still send a anonymous signal: no cookie, no recognition, just “there was a visit and something happened”. Google uses those signals to estimate how many visitors and conversions you are missing. As a result, your reports also show traces of the people who said no, without them being tracked. Google calls this “modeling” and displays it separately in the reports.
The four signals
- analytics_storage: Is Google Analytics allowed to set a cookie?
- ad_storage: Is Google Ads allowed to set a cookie?
- ad_user_data: Can user data be sent to Google for advertising purposes?
- ad_personalization: Is Google allowed to use that data for personalized ads and remarketing?
The last two are new in version 2. Your cookie banner links its categories (statistics, marketing) to these signals.
Why “v2” and why mandatory?
Since March 2024, Google has required advertisers in Europe consent mode v2. Without the two new signals, your target audience lists fill up for remarketing It no longer detects this, and Google Ads does not measure conversions from European visitors. Therefore, anyone advertising without consent mode v2 will see their campaigns slowly drain away without an error message.
Basic or advanced?
- Basic: The Google tags only load after consent. If someone refuses, nothing happens and Google does not receive an anonymous signal either. Simple and the strictest.
- Advanced: The tags always load, but without cookies as long as there is no consent. Refusers generate anonymous signals. This is the variant that Google recommends and that yields the most data.
How does it work in practice?
- Your cookie banner sets all consents by default when the page loads. refused, even before a tag loads.
- If the visitor makes a choice, the banner displays the new score.
- The Google tags in Google Tag Manager listen to that setting and adapt.
- On a subsequent visit, the banner remembers the choice and passes it on immediately.
Many cookie banner plugins claim to support consent mode. You can only see if it really works by testing it: the browser's network traffic shows which state is being transmitted (a parameter gcs in the requests to Google).
Common mistakes
- The default setting is set to “allowed”, resulting in cookies being set before the visitor could make a choice.
- The banner does not convey the choice. to Tag Manager, so the tags never see the rejection.
- Version 1 only, without the two ad signals.
- Forgot other tags. Google handles consent mode. The meta pixel and other tags must be linked to the consent separately.
NB: Enabling consent mode is not the same as properly configuring consent mode. The most common mistake is a default setting that is set to “allowed,” meaning cookies are already set before the visitor could make a choice. That is exactly what the law prohibits, and it can only be detected by testing the website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need consent mode if I don't advertise?
It is not mandatory, then. However, it remains the proper way to pass the visitor's choice on to Google Analytics, and it provides anonymous signals of refusers.
How do I check if consent mode is working?
Open your website in a clean browser, open the developer tools (Network tab), and check before and after your choice in the banner which requests go to Google and what the gcs parameter says. Or have it tested by a specialist.
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