Consent mode¶

Google Consent Mode v2 tells the Google tags what the visitor allowed, so that they adapt their behavior. It is required for the audiences and measurement of Google Ads in the European Economic Area. The Google app sends the seven consent signals of Consent Mode v2 and updates them when the visitor makes a choice in the consent banner or consent platform:

Signal	Granted when the visitor accepts…
`ad_storage`, `ad_user_data`, `ad_personalization`	the marketing cookies
`analytics_storage`	the analytics cookies
`functionality_storage`, `personalization_storage`	the functional cookies
`security_storage`	always granted (necessary cookies)

Before the visitor chooses, the signals have the default values of the regional defaults. A returning visitor’s choice is applied before the first page view is sent, so that it is not counted as a cookieless ping.

Advanced or basic mode¶

In the Consent Mode block of Google ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings, the Consent Mode v2 setting offers two modes:

Advanced: load the tags at once, cookieless pings until consent: The Google tags load on the first page with every signal denied. Until the visitor consents, Google receives cookieless pings without cookies or identifiers, which it uses to model conversions. This is the recommended mode: the landing page, the referrer, and the campaign of the first visit are not lost.
Basic: load the tags only after consent: No Google script is loaded before the visitor accepts analytics or marketing cookies. There is no modeling, and the first page of the visit is lost for Google Analytics.

Wait for Update (ms) (500 by default) is the time the tags wait for an answer of an external consent platform before sending the first hits. Increase it if your platform answers slowly.

Important

Whatever the mode, a Google tag is never given more than the visitor allowed: the tags and the consent signals are updated at each choice.

Privacy options¶

In the Privacy Options setting:

Redact Ads Data (enabled by default): when advertising storage is denied, ad click identifiers are removed from the requests sent to Google.
URL Passthrough: when storage is denied, the ad click and session identifiers are passed in the links of the website instead of cookies, so that the conversions of a visit that spans several pages can still be attributed. The identifiers appear in the address of the pages.

Default consent per region¶

Click Default Consent per Region in the Consent Mode v2 setting, or go to Google ‣ Configuration ‣ Consent Defaults. Each line defines the state of the seven signals before the visitor chooses:

Field	Description
Name	A label for the line.
Website	Leave empty to apply the line to every website.
Regions	ISO 3166-1 country codes and ISO 3166-2 subdivisions, separated by commas, for example `ES, HU, US-CA`. Leave empty for all the other regions.
Ad Storage, Ad User Data, Ad Personalization, Analytics Storage, Functionality Storage, Personalization Storage, Security Storage	Granted or Denied.

The default line Denied until the visitor consents (without region) is provided: it denies everything except the security storage. Google applies the most specific line: a subdivision (US-CA) before a country (ES) before the line without region. Lines of a given website come before the lines shared by all websites.

screenshot: google-consent-defaults

menu: Google ‣ Configuration ‣ Consent Defaults
shows: The editable list of consent defaults: the default line without region and a line for `US` with some signals granted, the signal columns showing Granted/Denied.
highlight: The Regions column (red frame).
data: Lines "Denied until the visitor consents" (no region) and "United States" (region US).
notes: English UI, light theme, 1440px width.

Tip

Keep all the signals denied for the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. A more permissive default for other regions, such as US, is a legal choice that you make.