Consent Mode V2 - Iternum Digital

If you’re running an online business and marketing on Google in the EU, you must implement Consent Mode v2 by March 6, 2024. Failure to do so means that all your remarketing efforts will be a thing of the past. You’ll lose the opportunity to advertise and reach both new and existing customers across all of Google’s advertising platforms: Google Ads, Floodlight, and Display – and of course, it will also impact Analytics. In other words, Consent Mode v2 shifts from being a “nice to have” to a “need to have.”

In this post, we’ll go through everything you need to know about Consent Mode v2. What it is, what the update entails, how it affects your business, and what actions you need to take.

What is consent mode?

Consent Mode controls consent on your website. When a customer visits your website, they should encounter a consent banner that allows them to accept, reject, and manage which cookies they accept/reject. This configuration then controls how your tracking behaves, whether it is allowed to send information to platforms such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta, and more.

Consent Mode enables Google to model conversions, filling the gaps that occur when users reject consent. There are two forms of implementation: a simple one and an advanced one.

The simple (basic) implementation means that all tracking, including Google Tag Manager, is blocked on the website from the start if a user rejects consent. This means that no information is sent to platforms like Google Analytics.

The advanced implementation means that a ping is sent to Google Analytics, which is used to model conversions. This ping is sent as soon as a user lands on the website and rejects consent. With this, you signal to Google that a user has landed and has rejected consent, and limited information is sent. You cannot see the user specifically in the reporting, but the information is used solely for modeling data.

What is a ping?

A ping is a method that allows Google to receive information without using cookies. A ping only contains non-identifiable information about the user, such as: timestamp, device, browser, referral, or indication of ad click. This way, you can collect some information, just not specifically, which is used to model data and conversions.

What does consent mode v2 entail?

The update means that, as late as November 2023, Google introduced additional settings that enable better and more precise control over data collection and ensure that consent is respected. This comes into effect in continuation of the new Data Protection Legislation (DMA), which is just around the corner.

The new consent statuses are ad_user_data and ad_personalization, which must be attributed to the user’s consent.

Ad personalization controls whether data may be used for ad personalization (remarketing)

Ad user data is used to secure consent to send user data to Google for advertising purposes.

What does it affect the company?

Since you lose the opportunity to advertise and reach customers on all of Google’s advertising platforms, it’s critical for those who market online in the EU.

If you don’t have a consent platform on your website today, it’s time to implement one to start with. This will, of course, mean that you lose some (more or less) data, but with an advanced implementation of consent mode, you can fill these gaps as best as possible.

If, however, you already have a consent platform, it needs to be updated to V2.

What actions do I need to take?

Ensure you have a Google-certified management platform (CMP)
If you have a platform, make sure it is updated to v2
Internally consider whether you should have a simple or advanced implementation
Ensure all tracking on the website follows consent
- If you use Google Tag Manager, adjust consent in all tags
- If tracking is implemented directly in the script, or with plugins/modules/apps, adjust them to be compatible, or move them to Google Tag Manager
Have it in place by March 6th.

Would you like us to help you check how your website is doing, or do you have any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch. We conduct validations, implementations, and can assist you throughout the process.

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