Google Consent Mode V2: Everything You Need to Know

When you visit a website, you often see a pop-up asking if you agree to the website using cookies and collecting certain data about you and your visit. Google Consent Mode helps websites manage this process with Google’s tools like Google Analytics and Google Ads.

If you decline cookies or data collection, Google Consent Mode will instruct these tools to change their operation and limit the data they collect to respect your privacy choice. For instance, Google Analytics might collect less detailed information, or Google Ads won’t use your data to personalize the ads you see.

So let’s understand,

What is Google Consent Mode?

Google Consent Mode is a versatile tool that aims to assist websites in informing Google’s advertising and analytics services about the user’s consent preferences. Launched in early 2020 and upgraded to v2, this feature lets businesses maintain user privacy while being able to collect data for marketing and analysis.

Google Consent Mode integrates with your current CMP or cookie consent pop-up mechanism. It does not eliminate these tools but extends how tags behave in Google based on the consent status of the user. What Google Consent mode provides –

• Individual permission for the use of data for analysis and advertising.
• Adherence to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and other data protection laws
• Option of obtaining some anonymous data even if full consent has not been given
• Compatibility with the most used consent management systems

For marketers and website owners, it is important to understand that the Google Consent Mode v2 needs to be implemented to ensure that the digital advertising strategies remain effective while at the same time, considering the privacy preferences of the users. So let’s understand, 

Why has Google Consent Mode been updated?

The integration of Google Consent Mode v2 is timely given the changes in privacy policies that have been aimed at by the new and upcoming rules such as the European Digital Markets Act slated for implementation in 2024. This new version complies with updated rules for targeting users with digital ads.

Key reasons for the update include:

• Preparing for the new world: the cookieless future of digital marketing
• Responding to increased user privacy demands
• To ensure that the company complies with the new and upcoming privacy laws
• It gives the user more refined control over what information is gathered and how it is utilized.
• Google Consent Mode v2 ensures that brands have a robust advertising strategy in the future while showing users that they are sensitive to their data privacy.

How does it work?

Let’s imagine a user visits your website, your CMP offers data collection options. Google Consent Mode v2 communicates these choices to Google services, influencing their behavior. Users grant (status = granted) or deny (status = denied) consent via the cookie banner. The method chosen for implementation, basic or advanced, determines the information sent to Google platforms.

• Basic: This plugin blocks all tags until consent is given. Users are not allowed to submit any data if they do not agree to accept cookies.
• Advanced: Enables tags to execute while modifying their action according to the consent level. This makes some anonymous data capture and analysis possible even in the absence of explicit permission.

1. analytics_storage: It ensures that data is collected for analysis in the organization.
2. ad_storage: Helps to control cookies for advertising.
3. ad_user_data (new): Regulates the application of individual data to advertising.
4. ad_personalization (new): Managing data for advertising personalization and remarketing.

So why the panic about Google Consent Mode v2?

The reason for such a heated discussion of the latest version of Google Consent Mode is that its consequences touch upon the essence of digital advertising efficiency. Failing to implement it properly could result in: Failing to implement it properly could result in:

• Limited audience data: This will limit your insights on understanding who is visiting your site or interacting with your ads.
• Ineffective retargeting: This way, you will not be able to target users who come to the site for the first time or may waste ad money.
• Reduced ad performance: It also results in less effective ads, poor quality scores, and, therefore, greater expenses.
• Inaccurate conversion tracking: Your conversions will not be estimated or even tracked in the slightest by Google’s algorithm.

These limitations could greatly affect your marketing and ROI on the investment. Google Consent Mode v2 is important to deploy if you want to continue using digital advertising to grow your business.

What are the benefits of Google Consent Mode?

1. Compliance with regulations: Google Consent Mode is designed to help website owners comply with privacy regulations, so adjusting the behavior of Google’s services based on a given consent, ensures your website is only collecting personal data when the correct consent is given.
2. User trust: Being clear in your consent management process and having the correct processes implemented can enhance user trust and improve overall user experience.
3. Data-driven insights: Google Consent Mode V2 allows using anonymized data to gain insights, even when users don’t consent to cookies, which helps with basic measurements and understanding website performance without compromising privacy.

What happens if Google Consent Mode is not activated?

That means, that if Google Consent Mode is not activated in certain European countries, visitors will be shown consent-related messages. 

Failing to activate Google Consent Mode v2 can have serious consequences for your digital marketing efforts: Failing to activate Google Consent Mode v2 can have serious consequences for your digital marketing efforts:

1.  Data loss: This will not send any information to Google advertising platforms; it will significantly hamper your prospect of evaluating and tweaking ads. 
2.  Reduced targeting capabilities: It is quite important to understand that opportunities for the audience creation and remarketing will be reduced drastically. 
3.  Less effective campaigns: Every business would agree that a lack of data to base their marketing campaigns on will be less effective and may even be less profitable. 
4.  Potential compliance issues: There are issues that you might have in proving affiliation to good consent practices regarding user data.

Key Notes –

Do not allow your business to lag behind competitors at present when new opportunities for digital advertising are being sought. Integrate Google Consent Mode v2 and continue marketing with great success while staying legal. 

 Are you ready to improve consent management and shield your advertising outcomes? If you want to know how to implement Google Consent Mode v2 on your website, get in touch with a CMP provider that is Google-certified today.