Google Consent Mode API is supported by CMP Cookie First.
Google Consent Mode allows for better conversion and tracking data while still being compliant to the GDPR. Cookie First is among the few CMPs that have implemented this feature.
!important: this guide is manual integration of consent mode for inline scripts. If you are using Google Tag Manager please refer to this guide. Google Tag Manager and Google Consent Mode
Why is this Google Consent Mode important for website owners?
Consent mode provides a mechanism to modify the behavior of your Google tags based on the consent preferences of your users, allowing Google to account for any missing conversion data. It enables you to specify whether consent has been acquired for the utilization of cookies by Google Analytics and Google Ads. Google's tags will dynamically adjust, using cookies only for the designated purposes when consent has been affirmed by the user. Through the utilization of consent signals, conversion modeling is employed to reclaim any lost conversions stemming from consent alterations.
Consent mode can be utilized in Google Ads for the purposes of conversion tracking and managing your data segments.
Moreover, consent mode can be extended to:
- Floodlight
- Google Analytics
Consent mode modeling is accessible in Google Ads for users who fulfill all the necessary eligibility criteria. Modeled conversions will be displayed in the 'Conversions' column and will be incorporated in all subsequent reports utilizing this data. You can check your consent mode status to verify if your consent mode has been accurately deployed and if your modeling is currently active, plus you can analyze the consent mode impact results to gauge the effect of modeling on your conversion quantities.
Basically there are two commands that are being used with the gtag ('consent') API.
1. gtag ('consent', 'default') and
2. gtag ('consent', 'update')
These two will control how Google Tags are behaving, whether they track limited data and cookies. Google Consent Mode has 5 Consent Types which can be set. Refer to the table below to see what they mean.
GTM Consent Type |
Value | Default | Description |
ad_storage | 'denied' | 'granted' | 'denied' | Enables storage (such as cookies) related to advertising |
analytics_storage | 'denied' | 'granted' | 'denied' | performanceEnables storage (such as cookies) related to analytics e.g. visit duration |
functionality_storage | 'denied' | 'granted' | 'denied' | Enables storage that supports the functionality of the website or app e.g. language settings |
personalization_storage | 'denied' | 'granted' | 'denied' | Enables storage related to personalization e.g. video recommendations |
security_storage | 'denied' | 'granted' | 'granted' | Enables storage related to security such as authentication functionality, fraud prevention, and other user protection. *No consent required although users are informed in the cookie policy about these scripts and cookies |
Enable Google Consent Mode in your website
Add the code below to your website before you load Google Tag Manager or gtag.js . The code below has some variables you can change but shouldn't actually as this is the most GDPR friendly way.
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag() { dataLayer.push(arguments); }
gtag('consent', 'default', {
'ad_storage': 'denied',
'analytics_storage': 'denied',
'functionality_storage': 'denied',
'personalization_storage': 'denied',
'wait_for_update': 1500 //milliseconds
});
gtag('set', 'ads_data_redaction', true);
</script>
Enable Consent Mode for your banner
Open your Domain settings and go to the tab "Banner settings". Enable the option Google Consent mode and save your configuration.
When a website visitor agrees to accepting performance or marketing cookies Cookie First executes the update command: gtag ('consent', 'update') where ad_storage and respectively analytics_storage are granted.
Redacting Advertising data
If ad_storage is denied Google tags will not set any new cookies for advertising purposes. It also will not read out cookies from google.com and doubleclick.net. There's the possibility to further redact data when advertising is denied. This is being done automatically by Cookie First as we add the following command.
gtag('set', 'ads_data_redaction', true);