Google Consent Mode and consentmanager

What is Google Consent Mode?

Google Consent Mode is a feature of Google that helps website operators monitor and capture users’ explicit consent to the use of cookies and other Google tracking technologies (such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Google Tag Manager) and “model” gaps in otherwise lost conversions from users who do not consent to cookies, without violating their privacy.

So what happens when a user gives consent?

If a user gives consent on your website, the tags will work as usual and collect data for analytics and advertising purposes via Google Analytics, Google Ads or Google Tag Manager.

And then what happens if the user declines consent? Or ignores the cookie banner?

Google Consent Mode will automatically configure Google Tags to restrict data collection. This means that Google Analytics, Google Ads and Google Tag Manager will not collect personal data or other data about the user’s behavior on the website.

The tags operate in a restricted data processing mode, collecting only the user’s IP address, device and browser type, and the pages visited on the website. This data is more limited because it is intended to protect the user’s privacy by not containing personally identifiable information. Nevertheless, it’s still very useful information for website owners so that they can understand their conversion rates and interactions on their website.

Overall, Google Consent Mode will help website operators comply with privacy regulations while also benefiting from the insights and data that Google products provide. With automatic configuration of Google tags based on a user’s consent status, website operators can at the same time respect users’ privacy preferences while gaining valuable information about their preferences.

Do I need Google Consent Mode?

• Do you use Google Analytics on your website?
• Do you use cookies or other tracking technologies on your website?
• Do you have privacy regulations to comply with, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)?
• Do you have a privacy policy explaining how you collect, use, and share user data, including information about cookies and tracking technologies?
• Do you have a CMP (Compliance Management Platform) solution that allows users to give or decline consent to use cookies and tracking technologies?

If you checked any of these items, you will likely need to install Google Consent Mode. You can find out what your options are in our guide here.

How does it work?

Google’s consent mode allows website owners to inform Google about the status of a user’s consent for cookies or app identifiers in two ways: via the HTTP Request Header or via the Google Tag Manager (GTM) Data Layer. In the HTTP request header method, a “gtag_consent” parameter is added to the request header to indicate the status of the user’s consent for cookies and tracking technologies. In the GTM-data layer method, the “gtag.js” library is configured to read the user’s consent status from the data layer, which stores information about the user’s consent status for various types of cookies and tracking technologies. Google Analytics uses the user’s consent status to decide whether or not to use cookies and tracking technologies for that user.

Google Consent Mode and consentmanager

Check our tutorial on how to get started here.

How do I know if Google Consent Mode is enabled?

To determine if Google opt-in mode is enabled on your website, you can follow these steps:

1. Open your website in a web browser and go to Developer Tools (usually by pressing F12).
2. Navigate to the Console tab.
3. Type getTCData() in the console and press Enter.
4. If Google consent mode is enabled on your site, you should see a JSON object containing information about the user’s consent status, including tcString, cmpStatus, eventStatus, gdprApplies, purposeOneTreatment, publisherCC, and addtlConsent.

If you see this JSON object, it means that Google consent mode is running on your website. If you don’t see it, you may not have implemented the code correctly.