Complete Guide to Google Consent Mode v2

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital privacy, staying ahead of regulatory changes isn’t just good practice – it’s essential for maintaining effective marketing strategies. Google’s Consent Mode – and in particular Consent Mode v2 – is a critical update for anyone using GA4 or running Google Ads. If you’re involved in digital advertising, particularly remarketing and personalised ads, read on!

Why Consent Mode v2 Demands Your Immediate Attention

The short answer: if you want to continue using remarketing and personalised ads on Google Ads, you must have Consent Mode v2 enabled. The deadline was March 2024, meaning if you still haven’t implemented it yet, you’re likely already facing shrinking audiences and reduced ad performance. Setting up Consent Mode v2 isn’t a suggestion; it’s a requirement to ensure your campaigns remain effective.

What is Consent Mode?

It’s Google’s mechanism for communicating your users’ cookie consent status back to Google. This allows Google tags to dynamically adjust their behaviour based on user choices from your cookie banner. It’s important to note that Consent Mode is currently Google-specific, meaning it doesn’t impact other pixels like Facebook or TikTok.

Reference:
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10000067?sjid=15244771498147742724-EU

Basic vs. Advanced Consent Mode: What is the Difference?

Consent Mode v2 not only introduces new identifiers, but there is also two options for Consent Mode – Basic vs Advanced. The differences are siginificant and will not only impact the data you collect, it may also impact your GDPR compliancy.

Basic Consent Mode: This is the simpler approach. If a user consents, their data is sent to Google. However, if they deny consent, absolutely no data is transmitted, and your tags are completely blocked. Many businesses might already be doing something similar through their Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) like OneTrust or CookieBot. The crucial point for v2, however, is the need to explicitly send consent states to Google.

Advanced Consent Mode: This was, in essence, the original iteration of Consent Mode. It allows for a more comprehensive data collection strategy. Even if a user denies cookies, cookieless pings are still sent to Google. This enables Google to model the behaviour of non-consented users, helping to fill in the data gaps that arise when tags are blocked. This can provide a more complete picture of your data, but it comes with a significant caveat – you should consult your legal team to see if this solution is deemed compliant for your local data collection regulation, before going ahead.

Reference:
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10000067?sjid=15244771498147742724-EU

The New Identifiers in v2: Ad Personalisation and Ad User Data

The crucial change in Consent Mode v2 lies in the introduction of two new identifiers: ad_personalization and ad_user_data. These are the critical consent states that must be configured and enabled for your Google Ads tags. Without sending a “granted” status for these specifically, Google will not use that user’s data for remarketing or personalised advertising.

The Grey Area of Advanced Consent Mode and Its Implications

While Advanced Consent Mode offers the benefit of data modelling, it can be considered a legal “grey area,” particularly for businesses operating within the EU and bound by GDPR. By sending cookieless pings from non-consented users, you are, in effect, still tracking them, albeit without cookies. This means analytics tags send pings for modelling, and ad tags send pings for conversion modelling (though users won’t be targeted for personalisation).

The key takeaway here is to consult your legal teams. Ensure your cookie banners and privacy policies are crystal clear about what data you’re collecting and how it’s being used if you opt for Advanced Consent Mode. For merely meeting the Consent Mode v2 requirements for Google Ads remarketing, Basic Consent Mode is sufficient.

Reference:
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10000067?sjid=15244771498147742724-EU

The Benefits and Prerequisites for Consent Mode’s Data Modelling

Advanced Consent Mode’s appeal lies in its ability to fill data gaps. Google’s modelling, powered by these cookieless pings, can effectively show you more conversions and a higher conversion rate for your Google Ads. However, it’s vital to understand what this actually means. It is important to remember, however, you’re not gaining more conversions; rather, Google Ads is being attributed with more of the conversions that are already happening. It looks better for Google Ads, and in the long run, more data can improve algorithm performance for campaigns like Performance Max.

There are significant thresholds for modelling to be activated:

Google Ads: You need at least 700 ad clicks per day consistently over a 7-day period. If you don’t hit this, modelling won’t kick in, making Advanced Consent Mode largely pointless.

Google Analytics 4: You need at least 1,000 events per day from users who have denied analytics storage and 1,000 daily users who have accepted your cookie banner for at least 7 of the last 28 days.

If your traffic doesn’t meet these thresholds, there is no point even considering Advanced Consent Mode at this time.

References:
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10548233?sjid=15244771498147742724-EU
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11161109?sjid=15244771498147742724-EU

How to Implement Consent Mode v2

There are two primary approaches to implement Google’s Consent Mode v2 – CMP Integration or via Google Tag Manager.

CMP Integration: Many Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) like OneTrust, CookieBot, and others, offer native integrations or GTM community gallery templates that simplify the process of sending consent states to Google.

Google Tag Manager: For those who prefer a more hands-on approach, Simo Ahava’s GTM tag template from the Community Gallery is a powerful tool. You can use this template, setting default consent states to “denied” and then updating them based on user choices from your cookie banner. The critical step is to ensure your Google Tags (like the Google Tag and Google Ads tags) are triggered by the gtm_consent_update event.

References:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9976101?sjid=15859312532814587882-EU#cmp1
https://www.simoahava.com/custom-templates/consent-mode/

Verifying Your Consent Mode v2 Configuration

There are some simple ways to verify your Consent Mode v2 implementation.

Tag Assistant: In debug mode, check your hits to Google Analytics. A consent state of “g111” indicates consent has been granted, while “g100” signifies a cookieless ping.

Google Analytics (GA4): Navigate to your GA4 account’s Admin section, under “Data Streams,” and look for “ads measurement consent signals active” and “ads personalization consent signals active.”

Google Ads: Within your Google Ads account, for individual conversions, click on “Diagnostics” to see your Consent Mode status, confirming if it’s implemented and if modelling will be active.

Consent Mode v2 is a non-negotiable for Google Ads advertisers and it’s important to not only set it up correctly but to understand its nuances, particularly the differences between Basic and Advanced modes and their respective implications, to ensure your data collection and digital marketing is both effective and compliant.

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For more digital analytics content, check out our blog on FBCLID (Facebook’s Click Identifier) and how it impacts GA4 data or How to Unravel User Behaviour with GA4’s Path Exploration Reports. If you have any questions or there’s anything else we can help with, please leave a comment below, or email contact@glowmetrics.com.

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