Google Consent Mode V2: Why and How to Implement It

According to Cisco Consumer Privacy Survey, 81% of users believe a company’s treatment of their personal data reflects its view of them as customers, 63% of users believe most companies aren’t transparent about how their data is used, and 48% have stopped online shopping due to privacy concerns. When privacy policy questions are at the apex, users are likelier to trust and engage with websites that respect their privacy preferences. Such a solution as consent mode helps analysts and marketers respect user privacy while providing good data. To keep collecting user data for advertising, you should upgrade to Google Consent Mode V2. Not doing so will hinder your Google advertising campaigns’ effectiveness by preventing data transmission to Google, resulting in less optimized campaigns. We will guide you to understand the importance of consent mode and how to configure it.

Table of Contents:

1. Privacy Matters
2. What is Google Consent Mode?
3. The Benefits of Durable Measurement Solutions For Your Business
4. Google Consent Mode and Its Update
5. Before Implement Google Consent Mode
6. Consent Mode Impact On Business
7. Checklist to Ensure You Use Consent Mode 

Privacy Matters

Nowadays, people’s expectations of ad privacy have shifted. They have increasingly started worrying about sharing their personal information.

Cookie consent banners empower individuals with increased control over the utilization of their data for advertising or analytics purposes. Based on YouGov’s worldwide consumer survey, the percentage of users giving consent for cookies varies according to region and site type; 64% of the global average opt to grant all cookie permissions upon prompt. It means you could miss out on 36% of user data. 

We are convinced that good data backs good marketing decisions. Your business gains invaluable insights through measurement, enabling a deeper understanding of your marketing’s true impact. You also get to know your customers and their journey better to build stronger customer relationships. Traditional identifires, such as third-party cookies and app IDs, will provide diminished coverage. As the precision of event-level conversion data decreases, a transition toward broader aggregate measurement becomes necessary. 

What is Google Consent Mode?

As a balancing solution between online ads and privacy, Google Consent Mode is a special tool that automatically manages Google Tags and scripts across pages by adapting site behavior based on user consent. Consent mode informs Google about your users’ choices about cookies or app permissions. It has become a user-friendly solution for ensuring businesses consider privacy regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and Brazil’s LGPD. 

Durable measurement solutions work together to build and use first-party data. This data helps you accurately measure and attribute conversions for your campaigns. More accurate conversion data fuels Google’s automated solutions to optimize campaign performance. 

Without durable measurement solutions, insights from direct customer interactions will be lost. To maintain a full picture of the customer journey, gaps in modeled data must be filled with Google’s suite of privacy-centric measurement solutions. 

The Benefits of Durable Measurement Solutions For Your Business

In a world without 3rd party cookies, first-party data (1P) helps you to: 

• Create a unique advantage: only your business has the 1P data you collect with consent from your customers. 
• Enhance audience strategy: understand your most valuable customers and tailor messaging for better performance.
• Inform business decisions: reveal how people engage with your business and guide your strategy to maximize that engagement.

This key component of a durable measurement strategy helps you:

• Reach the right people with relevant ads 
• Engage existing customers and find new ones 
• Accurately measure conversions without 3P cookies 
• Improve campaign performance and ROI
• Generate insights to drive continued success 

VIDEN, as a team of advertising and analytics experts, ensures businesses can improve advertising performance by serving personalized ads to users who have consented to data processing. 

Google Consent Mode and Its Update

The tool has four tag settings, two of which were present in the initial version, and two additional consent modes introduced in the V2 version:

• Ad_user_data (NEW): If consent is given, personal data will be forwarded to Google for advertising intentions. 
• Ad_personalization (NEW): If consent is given, it allows for personalized advertising/remarketing. 
• Analytics_storage: Asked the user to consent to their data being used for analytics.
• Ad_storage: Asked the user if they consent to their data being used for advertising.

Who Can Use Google Consent Mode?

We highlighted 3 groups:

• Users of Google Ads, SA360, or DV360. If Google advertising platforms work for tracking conversions. 
• Users of Google Analytics 4. If Google Analytics serves as your primary tool for tracking conversions. 
• Businesses with a presence in the EEA + UK region. If your website or online business operates within the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Remember, if you are based in the US but have clients from EEA and UK regions, you still need to comply and have the banner and Consent Mode to use measurement and audience solutions.

How consent mode works?

The user will either grant connect (status = granted) or refuse content (status = denied) through the cookie banner. The data sent to Google platforms after this decision will vary depending on the implementation method, whether basic or advanced. With the consent mode basic implementation, tags only fire for users who grant consent. If you choose to have tags blocked or if tags do not fire, no pings are sent to Google. With the consent mode advanced implementation, Google tags are loaded before the consent dialog appears. Tags send cookieless pings when cookie consent is declined. 

In other words, consent mode employs on-site scripts to gather extensive data and transmit it back to the business in a manner compliant with GDPR regulations. It receives your users’ consent choices from your cookie banner or widget and dynamically adapts the behavior of Analytics, Ads, and third-party tags that create or read cookies. The full process, starting from user interaction and ending with receiving better results, looks like: 

Step 1: A potential customer searches for a product. After clicking on the business’s ad, they land on its website and enable consent from the banner. They browse for a while and make a purchase. 

Step 2: Consent mode adjusts the Google tag behavior depending on permission settings. This allows the business to use cookies for ads and analytics when users accept and only ping cookieless tags for users who deny consent. 

Step 3: The cookies or pings send insights to the business’s Google Ads account. Now, they can see which ads and campaigns are best at driving the results they are looking for.  

Step 4: Insights combined with Google AI and the business’s strategic campaign optimization help improve their Google Ads performance. 

Do You Need to Update to Google Consent Mode V2?

The updated version of Google Consent Mode V2 has been developed to comply with the newly implemented Digital Markets Act (DMA), which comes into force in March 2024. If you have the old version of consent mode, your implementation will continue to work. But still, to get full functionality you should upgrade to Google Consent Mode V2. Failing to do so will hinder the effectiveness of your Google advertising campaigns, as it will prevent data transmission to Google, resulting in less optimized campaigns.

How can I check that I use Google Consent Mode V2?

You can use tag assistant and GA4 to check whether you are running Google Consent Mode V2. With tag assistant, you will see the new consent parameters. ‘Denied’ by default will change to ‘Granted’ when cookies will be accepted on your site.  

In GA4, follow these steps: Admin-Data Collection and Modifications-Data Streams-Select your site. In the consent settings block, you will see green ticks. 

Before Implement Google Consent Mode

What should you know before setting up a consent mode? We indicate 3 key factors ensuring the successful implementation of the consent mode: 

• EEA presence 

Consent mode is recommended for customers with an EEA presence or a region with opt-in consent regulations. 

• Consent banner and Consent mode 

Consent mode is a mechanism for passing consent signals to respect user consent choices made on a consent banner within a website or an app. 

• Google Tag (Web) & Google Analytics for Firebase SDK (Apps) 

Must either use Google Tag or Google Tag Manager (web), or Google Analytics for Firebase SDK (apps). Legacy tags are not supported. 

 Ensure you communicate consent through:

• GA4 (Consent Mode) 
• AAP 
• S2S
• Customer Match  

You can implement Google consent mode via a Consent Management Platform (CMP) or directly on your website using IAB TCF or Google consent mode. Keep in mind that it’s essential to ensure your website respects user privacy.

Also, note that the EEA consent banner requirements differ from Apple’s ATT platform changes.  

Consent Mode Impact On Business

Since the consent mode was launched, the solution has facilitated advertisers’ obtaining more precise and privacy-conscious insights via conversion modeling. 

MediaMarktSaturn boosted measured conversions by 25% with consent mode. “Modeling and first-party data is the standard in the new era of measurement since it guarantees performance marketing efficiency. With consent mode, we uncovered significantly more conversions, and it proved the importance of privacy solutions now and in the future,” said Florian Heurberger, Head of Media, MediaMarkSaturn. 

Checklist to Ensure You Use Consent Mode

What do you need to do?

Assess Your Current Consent Management Procedures

If your website utilizes a Content Management Platform like CookieYes or CookieBot, it’s essential to verify if their product has been automatically updated or if any manual actions are necessary.

Deploy a Consent Management Solution That Complies With GDPR and DMA Other Standards

If your website doesn’t use a Consent Management Platform, we recommend upgrading to a Google Certified one. This is the easiest and most reliable way of enabling Google Consent Mode V2.

Integrate Consent Mode

Make sure to seamlessly incorporate Consent Mode by meticulously configuring and assessing all tag elements.

Many organizations use the GMP and Google Ads to manage their advertising campaigns, so it’s crucial to understand how Consent Mode affects their operations. Integrating consent mode into all Google Marketing Platforms can be technically complex. Contact VIDEN to implement consent mode and optimize your consent management strategy.