Should You Switch To Google Consent Mode V2?

Jake Stewart - PPC Executive

If your company uses PPC advertising in the EEA you’ve probably received an email about Google Consent Mode v2.

For those using Tag Manager, Analytics and Google Ads, Consent Mode adjusts tracking data and cookies based on what data a user has consented to be shared.

With the advent of privacy laws like GDPR, user consent management has become increasingly important. Businesses now require explicit consent from users about what personal data they collect, building advertising trust and transparency.

But it helps businesses too. With Google Consent Mode, if users do share their data, companies can target them with highly personalised ads that they’re more likely to engage with.

What is Google Consent Mode?

Google Consent Mode v1 was first launched in September 2020 in response to stronger EU data privacy laws like GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.

Using it, businesses configure their Google Ads and Analytics to track specific data and information based on a user’s consent status.

Users need to provide consent for tracking or personalised ads, and if they haven’t, Google tags will adjust their behaviour accordingly, limiting data collection and personalisation.

When it comes to retargeting or setting up a campaign, Google Consent Mode will tailor ads based on these preferences. It is mandatory for those who use PPC ad personalisation features in the EEA, and without it, you will lose all information about new users who visit your site as Google won’t collect their data.

What is Google Consent Mode V1?

Google Consent Mode v1 requires user consent for tracking and personalised advertising. However, it is a more simplistic yes/no consent system based on two factors: analytics and ad data.

Cookie policy banners using Google Consent Mode v1 only needed to obtain answers for two parameters:

Analytics_storage: Do you consent for your data to be stored for analytics use?

Ad_storage: Do you consent for your data to be stored for advertising?

If they consent, Google passes their data to the relevant platforms. If they don’t, no data is transferred.

When Google Consent Mode v1 was launched, it was in answer to increased privacy regulations and played an important role in protecting user privacy.

However, the two-part consent system is very basic, with no granular responses or ways to adjust what data you want to be shared. Users either do or don’t, there is no middle ground.

What is Google Consent Mode V2?

Google Consent Mode v2 took effect in March 2024 after being introduced in late 2023, updating Consent Mode v1 to allow for more granular responses by users.

Responding to updates in data privacy laws and to strengthen their commitment to privacy, Consent Mode v2 drills down further into cookie policies and third-party data sharing by asking users to specify what specific information they are happy to share for advertising purposes.

By upgrading to version 2, your business can continue to use ad personalisation functions like tag-based remarketing features through Google Ads and Analytics.

This is the key change in the new update, which largely focuses on which data is collected for remarketing in the EEA.

This is accomplished by the addition of two new parameters to the user’s cookie policy consent:

Ad_user_data: Sets consent for what data can be sent to Google for advertising purposes.

Ad_personalisation: Sets consent for personalised advertising.

Google Consent Mode v2 also embraces AI as part of its new Conversion Modelling. This builds on observable data and historical trends based on the data of previous users who have consented to collection.

The advantage of this is that it helps bridge the gap for those who do not consent and reduces the reliance on cookies. In other words, rather than using real people’s data it will model expected outcomes based on learned behaviour.

This is important as it’s predicted that the future of data collection will lie not in collecting cookies, but in machine learning.

While it’s not fully necessary to upgrade to Google Consent Mode v2, you will experience limitations if you don’t (more on that below).

If you’re a business that runs Google PPC ads using Consent Mode v1 and hasn’t upgraded, you may have already this update email warning in March 2024:

What this essentially means is that for Google Consent Mode v1 users a new auto-mapping parameter has been added between ad_storage and ad_user_data. Without the ability for users to consent directly to the ad_user_data parameter, Google will instead just auto-populate information in the EEA and store it in a new location.

Without upgrading you cannot continue to use ad personalisation in Google Tag, Ads or Analytics as this is now its separate value parameter within Google.

That’s not to say this version of Google Consent Mode is perfect, and there’s a likelihood of seeing another, even more, granular update in the future as privacy laws advance. As it currently stands, however, you can implement either basic or advanced Consent Mode on your website.

What’s the Difference Between Basic and Advanced Consent Mode?

With Basic Consent Mode, your Google Tags won’t load until a user interacts with the consent policy banner. That means if they don’t interact or consent, none of their data will be sent or stored and Google Tags are completely blocked off. Instead, conversion modelling in Ads for that subset of data will be based on a general model rather than specific information.

If they do consent, it will trigger the consent mode APIs which send default and updated consent states to Google.

If you choose to implement Advanced Consent Mode, Google tags load as soon as a user enters your site. The consent mode API can then trigger immediately and do the following:

  • Set default consent to denied (unless you have set your defaults). If consent remains denied, Google will send cookieless pings.
  • Waits for the user to interact with the banner and updates status accordingly. If they consent, Google Tags can send full data information to your accounts.

These advanced consent signals can capture specific and more granular consent preferences laid out by those using Google Consent Mode v2, with greater flexibility in tailoring the tags. It means that there’s less need for your site to rely on cookie data and can track more specific user interactions that don’t contain personal identifiers.

Do You Need to Switch to Google Consent Mode V2?

Yes, if you want to personalise ads and use retargeting in your PPC campaigns.

If you fail to switch to Google Consent Mode v2, you can no longer collect data for advertising as this now requires a second consent step. From March 2024, businesses can no longer use or collect EEA user data if they don’t meet compliance standards, seriously impacting your ability to create effective Google Ads PPC campaigns.

This is particularly significant if your business uses remarketing and display campaigns. Without upgrading to Consent Mode v2, you will lose the ability to collect any data for remarketing. For PPC ad strategies this means no personalisation, which usually means a loss of ROI.

You will also miss out on the Conversion Modelling offered in Consent Mode v2. This means no machine learning to help bridge the gap of lost data that occurs when users don’t consent to have their information shared.

In switching to Google Consent Mode v2, your business shows a commitment to adhering to stronger privacy regulations in the EEA, while still being able to collect valuable marketing data.

No, if you don’t advertise in the EEA, or your business doesn’t use this data for advanced marketing, analytics or PPC.

You can keep using Google Consent Mode v1 and Google will automatically map your ad_storage to ad_data_user values. This remaps your data storage to a new place and you will no longer be able to personalise your ads for retargeting.

You can opt out of this new auto-mapping if you prefer by changing consent mode parameters.

Common Ground’s Take On Google Consent Mode

In essence, how Google collects data isn’t changing, it’s just gaining additional parameters. Your existing Consent Mode implementation will continue to work as expected, it just won’t be able to share the same level of data information with businesses as it previously did.

If you’re interested in using ad personalisation, or retargeting features in Google Ads, Google Analytics 4 or Google Marketing Platform, updating to Google Consent Mode v2 becomes a necessity.

Luckily, if you’re already using a Google-certified consent management platform (CMP), your provider will automatically update your consent mode to the latest version. Otherwise, you will need to do the implementation yourself.

If not updated, you will lose valuable data information for advertising. You also won’t be able to take advantage of the new modelling data which will be hugely instrumental in future campaigns as users become more and more wary about sharing their data with every website they visit.

That means there will be no machine learning model that helps piece together gaps in data collection, for better conversion path tracking and analysis. With less and less reliance on cookies, you risk being left behind if you can’t implement modelling in its place.

As of March 2024, updating your consent mode has become paramount for businesses, particularly those relying on PPC ads. If you don’t meet Google’s standards for compliance, it simply won’t send you any user information, affecting your ability to create effective Ads campaigns, thus impacting your ROI.

TLDR; We strongly recommend updating to Google Consent Mode v2.

How to Switch to Google Consent Mode V2

As mentioned, for those lucky CMP partners, you don’t need to do anything, your provider will do it for you.

For the rest of you who will need to take care of the update yourself, it’s an easy process to implement.

If you use Google Tag Manager load your banner through the Tag Manager container using a consent mode template.

If you use gtag.js make sure the tag is installed on every page of your website.

Assuming you’re already using Google Consent Mode v1, you need to change the default behaviour of your tags.

First, check the default consent type. Make sure to set this to denied like so:

For Gtag.js:

gtag('consent', 'default', {
'ad_storage': 'denied',
'ad_user_data': 'denied',
'ad_personalization': 'denied',
'analytics_storage': 'denied'
});

For Tag Manager you can use the specific API for managing consent states setDefaultConsentState and updateConsentState.

When the user interacts, you will want to update your commands accordingly. This means updating the consent status from denied to granted, like so:

For Gtag.js:


function all consent granted() {
gtag('consent', 'update', {
'ad_user_data': 'granted',
'ad_personalization': 'granted',
'ad_storage': 'granted',
'analytics_storage': 'granted'
});
}




**Add in the script tag before and after the function

For Tag Manager, if using a standard template, it should update automatically when a user interacts. If you’re using your own created template, you can use the Tag Manager APIs setDefaultConsentState and updateConsentState. The gtagSet API can be used to optionally set the ads_data_redaction and URL passthrough settings as appropriate.

You can see how to create more advanced Consent Mode tags here.

What is the right choice for you?

In many ways, switching to Google Consent Mode v2 makes the most sense. It allows for more granular data collection and for you to continue to use personalisation in retargeting and display ads. To not update would be to lose valuable information that can benefit your overall marketing strategy.

With a future powered by AI, not updating means you are missing out on valuable opportunities to harness its power in informing data collection and will be forced to rely on increasingly outdated and inaccurate methods like cookie tracking, which has major gaps in its analysis.

By switching you are also making a statement as a business that you not only respect and adhere to data privacy laws (as is legally required) but that you are committed to enhancing your user’s data privacy protection wherever possible. This builds trust with those visiting your website and allows them to feel their data is in good hands.

Common Ground’s Support for B2B Brands

At Common Ground, we have over 15 years of PPC experience and are already helping our clients upgrade to Google Consent Mode V2, alongside slashing their costs and improving their ROI.

We believe in full transparency and communication and are happy to discuss whether Google Consent Mode V2 is right for your business.

Jake Stewart - PPC Executive

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