Google Consent Mode v2 might break your Ads

You Will Learn:

• What is Google Consent Mode v2, and why it's now a must-have
• The lowdown on Basic vs. Advanced implementation to keep your site compliant and data-rich
• Options for v2 implementation

Let's dive into the latest topic in marketing - Google Consent Mode v2. The clock is ticking, and by March 2024, if you don't have it implemented, you're essentially invisible to Google Analytics and Google Ads (think of audiences, remarketing lists, and overall campaign performance). A pretty big deal, right? First off, this affects the EU and UK traffic only, at least for now. If you're not targeting those regions, I recommend keeping reading, as it might essentially come to the US/CA as well.

So what's new? With v2, Google isn't just asking you to tick a few more boxes. They've added a couple of new parameters to the mix: ad_user_data and ad_personalization. They ensure that only the data you've got a green light for is sent Google's way, particularly for Google Ads and Google Shopping.

Now, you've got two ways to implement this: Basic and Advanced:

• Basic is straightforward – get consent, and you're golden; no consent, no data. That's how default CMPs have been working until now.
• Advanced (or preferred) is where it gets interesting. Even if your users refuse cookies, you can still send Google anonymous pings. This way, you're not flying blind, and Google can still work its data magic in Google Analytics and Ads.

So, how do we set this all up?

1. Start with the cookie banner (yep, still required). The critical part is that you'll need a Certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) to handle the requests, ensuring that Google's tags play nicely with your users' choices. The key word here is Certified. Per official Google documentation, you have to pick one of these CMPs for Google to recognize the requests and play nice with Google marketing. It also means that you can't use (one of my favorites) open-source cookie banners since it's only a client-side solution and not a CMP. Even if you integrate it to work with your GTM container, the solution is not Google-certified. In other words, you can use it with other vendors, but Google won't accept it.
2. Use Google Tag Manager official CMP templates or, even better, Simo's consent (updated for v2) template to implement logic to load or skip the analytics and marketing tags/scripts. If you're loading the scripts inline and not from the GTM, you should be able to manage those scripts in your CMP admin settings.
3. Verify that the consent is implemented correctly using Tag Assistant (link)

This certified cookie banner won't come for free. Even though most CMPs offer free plans, those won't be enough (limited monthly pageviews, limited banner design, or functionality). So essentially, you're looking for additional $10-$15/mo expenses, just to comply with the EU and Google regulations.

To recap:

• Getting the EU/UK traffic? Implement the consent mode v2 ASAP.
• Pick the certified CMP and a plan, configure, and add the cookie banner to your site. Ensure that ad_user_data and ad_personalization attributes are present.
• Use GTM templates to implement the tag logic (which scripts get loaded and when)

As always, ping me directly if you have any technical questions!

Receive the newest marketing insights and how-to guides directly in your inbox - subscribe for free today!