What Is Google Consent Mode v2?

Google Consent Mode v2 is the way your cookie banner tells Google's tags (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Tag Manager) what a visitor has agreed to. Since March 2024, Google requires these consent signals for visitors in the EEA if you want to keep using features like remarketing, ad personalisation and full conversion measurement.

What it does

Consent Mode doesn't ask for consent itself; your cookie banner does that. Consent Mode passes the visitor's choice on to Google with a set of signals:

analytics_storage

ad_storage

ad_user_data

ad_personalization

Version 2 added the last two signals,

ad_user_data

ad_personalization

Basic vs. advanced mode

• Basic mode: Google's tags don't load at all until the visitor consents. Nothing is sent before that. This is the most cautious option.
• Advanced mode: Google's tags load right away with consent set to "denied", and send limited cookieless pings. Google uses them to model conversions it can't measure. Regulators haven't settled whether those pings need consent, so check with your legal adviser before choosing it.

What happens without it?

For EEA traffic, Google's ad features depend on these signals. Without them, you can lose remarketing audiences, personalised ads and part of your conversion data in Google Ads and Google Analytics.

How to set it up

Your cookie banner needs to:

1. Set a default state ("denied") before any Google tag loads.
2. Send an update when the visitor makes a choice.
3. Map your banner's categories to the right signals (statistics →

   analytics_storage

   ; marketing →

   ad_storage

   ,

   ad_user_data

   and

   ad_personalization

   ).

Cookiefy does all three automatically, both with the plain script and through its Google Tag Manager template. Run a free cookie scan to see what your site loads today, or start free with 1 website.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, ask a lawyer or your data protection authority.