Hey there, I'm Benjamin from Loves Data. In this
video, we're going to cover Google Consent Mode v2. If you haven't implemented Consent Mode yet,
it lets you send details about people's consent choices to Google. We're going to cover what it
is, whether you need to use it, and walk through the steps to set up Consent Mode v2. Before
we get started, I want to give a shout-out to Cookiebot for sponsoring this video. Cookiebot
lets you add a consent banner to your website, and, as we will see in a moment, it means we
can quickly and easily implement Consent Mode v2. Okay, let's start by explaining Consent Mode
and the difference between Consent Mode v2 and the previous version, which is sometimes called
'Consent Mode v1'. Overall, Consent Mode lets you tell Google if someone has provided consent
when they visit your website. For example, if you want to create a Google Ads remarketing
campaign that targets people located in Europe, you will need to implement Consent Mode. If you
don't, data collected from people based in Europe won't be available in your Google Ads account
for remarketing. Consent Mode works with the consent banner on your website. If you're using
a Consent Management Platform like Cookiebot, it will automatically pass people's
consent preferences to Google. For example, once someone clicks 'Allow All' on your consent
banner, cookies will be stored on their browser, and all of the information will be available
in Google Analytics, Google Ads, and the other advertising and analytics platforms you're using.
Google has also said they're 'strengthening the enforcement of their 'EU user consent policy'.
Let's take a look at this policy. It says that you need to obtain consent from people located
in Europe to use cookies and to use data for ad personalization. This means even if you're
only using Google Analytics on your website and you're not using Google Ads, you might still
need to implement Consent Mode if people located in Europe can visit your website. So that's
something you will need to consider. Okay, now you might be wondering what's the difference
between Consent Mode v2 and the previous version of Consent Mode, which is also called
'Consent Mode v1'. Let's take a look. When Consent Mode was first introduced, it let you
tell Google if people had provided consent to store analytics and advertising cookies in their
browser. To do this, we could set values for the 'analytics storage' and 'ad storage' parameters.
For example, when someone came to our website, we would set the default consent state to
'denied', and when they granted permission for cookies to be stored, we would change the values
of these parameters to 'granted'. The values of 'denied' and 'granted' are then included with
data that is sent to Google. So with the previous version of Consent Mode, called 'Consent Mode
v1', we set values for 'analytics storage' and 'ad storage'. In order to meet legal requirements
in Europe, Google released Consent Mode v2. Let's take a look. This version still includes the
'analytics storage' and 'ad storage' parameters, but it introduces two new parameters for
consent. These are the 'ad user data' and 'ad personalization' parameters. The 'ad user data'
parameter tells Google if someone has provided consent to have their data used for advertising.
And the 'ad personalization' parameter tells Google if someone allows their data to be used
for personalized advertising. This includes remarketing, where you target ads to people after
they've left your website. Now that we've covered the difference between Consent Mode v2 and the
previous version, I'm going to answer the top questions about Consent Mode. First up. Do you
need to implement Consent Mode? To answer this, I recommend asking yourself the following
questions. Are you collecting data from people located in Europe? This includes collecting data
into Google Ads and Google Analytics. And, are you running remarketing campaigns in Google Ads that
target people located in Europe? If you answered 'yes' to either of these questions, then you need
to implement Consent Mode. If you answered 'no', but you might in the future, then you should also
consider implementing Consent Mode sooner rather than later. And just to highlight, you will need
to implement Consent Mode before you can start building audience lists for your remarketing
campaigns in Google Ads. The next question is. What happens if consent mode isn't implemented? If
you're not collecting any data from people located in Europe, currently, nothing changes. However,
if you want to run remarketing campaigns in Google Ads and you haven't implemented Consent Mode, then
people located in Europe won't be added to your audience lists. Google's 'EU user consent policy'
says you need consent to use cookies, based on my tests, data will still be available in your
Google Analytics reports for people located in Europe even if you don't implement Consent Mode.
And while this is what I've found, it doesn't mean you should wait to implement Consent Mode. Google,
along with the European regulations require that we have consent before we collect and use personal
data, which includes browser cookies. Next up. Is Consent Mode required for tracking conversions
in Google Ads? If you want to track conversions from people located in Europe, then you need to
implement Consent Mode. This is because Google Ads uses cookies by default and collects information
that falls under the European regulations. So you do need consent to collect this data and send it
to Google. If you're not tracking conversions from people located in Europe, then currently, you
don't need to implement Consent Mode. However, user privacy requirements are evolving and it's
probably best to be ready for more changes when it comes to data collection and privacy. And while
you can track conversions into Google Ads without Consent Mode, using Consent Mode means available
cookies will be used for more accurate reporting. Plus, with Consent Mode v2, Google Ads can use
data modeling to fill in missing conversions. The next question is. If consent isn't provided,
will data be collected into Google Analytics? This depends on if Consent Mode has been implemented
and if it has, it will also depend on how it has been implemented. Basically, if Consent Mode
hasn't been implemented using a consent banner on your website, then based on my tests, you will
still be collecting data from people located in Europe into your reports. If you have implemented
Consent Mode and consent isn't provided, basic information, or hits, will be sent to Google
Analytics. If you collect enough of these basic, or anonymous hits, Google Analytics will
use machine learning to provide modeled data in your reports. It will take some time for
modeled data to become available. And a minimum amount of data is required for data modeling.
If you don't meet these minimum requirements, modeled data won't be available in your reports.
Finally. What's the difference between 'Advanced Consent Mode' and 'Basic Consent Mode'? Using
'Advanced Consent Mode' means that tags for Google's platforms, like the Google Tag for Google
Ads and Google Analytics will automatically adjust the data they collect based on people's consent
preferences. For example, if you're sending data to Google Analytics, basic information will
be sent to Google Analytics before consent has been granted. Then when consent is granted,
cookies will be created and the tag will send all of the available information to Google Analytics.
Using 'Basic Consent Mode' means that no data will be sent to Google's platforms until consent
has been granted. Until consent is granted, no data will be sent to Google Analytics. We've
now covered what Consent Mode is, the difference between Consent Mode v2 and the previous version,
when we need to use Consent Mode, and what happens if we don't use it. Now we're going to walk
through the steps to implement Consent Mode v2 using Cookiebot. Let's head to Cookiebot. If
you're just getting started, I've included a link to Cookiebot in the description below this video.
Since I've already created an account, let's begin by entering the URL of our website. We can then
choose one of the predefined templates. Or choose to customize our consent banner. Since Consent
Mode is now required for users based in the EU, let's select the 'GDPR' template. This will
give us preconfigured settings for our consent banner which makes setup quicker and easier. And
let's click 'Next'. We can now adjust the design, content and other elements of our consent
banner. Since we selected the 'GDPR' template, I'm going to leave the defaults, but you can
adjust the settings for your consent banner. For example, we can choose between 'Dialog' and 'Bar'.
'Dialog' will appear on top of your website. While 'Bar' appears at the bottom of people's browsers.
Selecting 'Design' lets us adjust the colors and button styles. We can choose to use the light
theme, dark theme, or select our own colors for the banner. I'm going to leave 'Light' selected
for my banner, but you can choose an option that works with your website and branding. And we can
adjust the style of the buttons. If you're on a premium plan, you can also upload your logo.
Now let's select 'Compliance'. This lets you control when the consent banner appears and the
options provided to people visiting your website. And under 'Distribution' you can choose which
users will be asked for consent based on their geographic location. Since we're implementing a
consent banner to use with Consent Mode and we previously selected the 'GDPR' template, we can
see this is set to 'EU Only', but you can adjust this if needed. Next, we can select the 'Content'
tab to review the text used for the consent banner and buttons. Again, I recommend leaving the
defaults. And selecting the 'Privacy' tab lets you adjust what people see after they've selected
an option on the consent banner. By default, there will be a small icon on the bottom left
corner of your website after people have selected their consent choice. This is where people can
adjust their consent. Again, I'm going to leave the defaults, and let's click 'Next' on the top
right corner. Now it's time to implement Cookiebot on our website. We're going to use Google Tag
Manager to add the Cookiebot consent banner. But if you're not using Google Tag Manager, you
can use one of the other options. For example, if you're using the Google Tag on WordPress, you
can use Cookiebot's WordPress plugin. Since we're going to use Google Tag Manager, let's click
'Finish'. And let's select 'Implementation'. Let's scroll down. And copy the 'Domain Group ID',
as we will need this in a moment. Now let's head to Google Tag Manager. If you're just getting
started with Google Tag Manager, I recommend watching my tutorial series to help you get up
and running. You can find a link to this in the description below this video. The first thing we
need to do is enable the 'Consent Overview'. This makes it easy to see if consent settings have been
defined for our tags. To do this, let's navigate to 'Admin'. And let's select 'Container Settings'.
Now let's ensure that 'Consent Overview' is enabled at the bottom. And let's click 'Save'.
Now let's navigate back to 'Workspace'. And select 'Tags' on the left. We can now see the
'Consent Overview' icon on the top right corner. Let's select this. We can now see a list of all
the tags in our Google Tag Manager container. All of the tags listed at the top, under
'Consent Not Configured' need to be reviewed. We will come back to the 'Consent Overview' in
a moment and I will show you how to do this. For now, let's close the 'Consent Overview'.
And let's navigate to 'Templates'. In the 'Tag Templates' section, let's click 'Search
Gallery'. And let's search for 'Cookiebot'. Let's select the Cookiebot template. And click
'Add To Workspace'. And click 'Add' again. Now let's navigate to 'Tags'. And let's click 'New' to
create a new tag. Let's name the tag 'Cookiebot'. And let's select 'Tag Configuration'. Now let's
search for 'Cookiebot' and select it. We need to paste the 'Domain Group ID' we copied from our
Cookiebot account. We can see there are some additional settings, but let's leave the defaults,
and look for 'Default Consent State'. By default, the consent state will be set to 'denied' for
all of the Consent Mode parameters. However, you can set different defaults for different
geographic locations. I'm going to leave this, and let's select 'Triggering'. And let's choose
the 'Consent Initialization, All Pages' trigger. This will ensure that Cookiebot is loaded
before any other tags on our website. Now let's click 'Save'. The Cookiebot tag will now
automatically adjust how most of the tags for Google's platforms function. This means they will
automatically respect the consent settings people choose on our website. However, we might have some
tags that don't have built-in consent settings. For these tags we will need to create a new
trigger. So let's navigate to 'Triggers'. And let's click 'New' to create a new trigger. Let's
name the trigger 'Cookie Consent Update'. And let's select 'Trigger Configuration'. Now let's
choose 'Custom Event' as the trigger type. And let's enter 'cookie', 'underscore', 'consent',
'underscore', 'update' as the event name. This needs to be all lower case. Now let's click
'Save'. We can use this trigger that we've just created for any tags that don't have built-in
consent settings. We've now added Cookiebot to Google Tag Manager and we've created a custom
trigger for tags that don't include built-in consent settings. So the next step is all of the
tags configured in our container. To check the consent settings for our tags, let's navigate
back to 'Tags'. We're going to use the 'Consent Overview' again, so let's click the consent
overview icon on the top right corner. We need to check the consent settings for all of the
tags listed under 'Consent Not Configured' at the top. Let's start by selecting the 'Cookiebot'
tag. Since this tag is used to manage consent, we need it to fire every time someone visits our
website. So let's look for 'Consent Settings' under 'Advanced Settings'. And let's select
'No Additional Consent Required'. Now let's save the tag. We can see the Cookiebot tag is now
listed under 'Consent Configured'. Now we need to configure the consent settings for the tags still
listed under 'Consent Not Configured'. My tip here is to look for any tags that don't have any values
listed under the 'Built-in Consent' column. These are the tags that don't have built-in consent
settings and will need to have the custom trigger we created applied to them. We can see the
'Conversion Linker', 'Google Ads Remarketing', and 'Google Tag' all have values listed under the
'Built-in Consent' column. This means all of these tags will automatically adjust based on people's
consent preferences. So if someone hasn't provided consent yet, these tags will send some basic
information to Google without creating any cookies on their browser. Instead of editing each of these
tags individually to adjust the consent settings, let's select the check boxes to the left of the
'Google Ads, Conversion Linker' tag. The 'Google Ads Remarketing' tag. And the 'Google Analytics'
tag. Now let's click the 'Edit Consent Settings' icon. It looks like a shield with a configuration
icon. And let's select 'No Additional Consent Required'. And click 'Save'. And click 'Save'
again. All of these tags are now listed under 'Consent Configured'. Now let's open the
'Microsoft Advertising' tag. Under 'Consent Settings', there are no built-in consent settings,
so let's select 'Require Additional Consent For Tag To Fire'. And let's click 'Add Required
Consent'. Now we need to select 'ad storage'. Along with 'ad personalization'. And 'ad user
data'. Next, we need to change the trigger for our tag so that it only fires once consent has been
granted. To do this let's select 'Triggering'. We need to remove the 'Initialization, All Pages'
trigger. And add the 'Cookie Consent Update' trigger. Now let's save the tag. All of the tags
are now listed under 'Consent Configured'. So let's close the 'Consent Overview'. The next step
is to test that our consent banner and Consent Mode v2 is working, so let's click 'Preview'. We
need to enter the URL for our website. And click 'Connect'. Our website loads. And we can see
our consent banner. Before we make a selection, let's open the Tag Assistant tab. We can see the
Cookiebot tag has fired, along with the Google Ads tags and the Google Analytics tag. We can also
see the Microsoft Advertising tag hasn't fired yet because we haven't provided consent yet. Let's
select the Google Analytics measurement ID at the top. And let's select the 'Page View' event.
We can see the 'Cookie Consent State' parameter has a value of 'G100'. This means that consent
hasn't been granted yet. It also means the tag has collected some basic details without storing
any cookies in our browser. Let's head back to the website. And let's click 'Allow All' on the
consent banner. Now let's navigate to another page. And let's open the Tag Assistant tab again.
Let's open the new 'Page View' event. We can now see the 'Cookie Consent State' parameter
has a value of 'G111' which means cookies are now being stored and all of the available
information is being sent to Google Analytics. Let's close this. And let's select the Google Tag
Manager container ID. We can now see the Microsoft Advertising tag has been fired too because we
granted consent. Okay, let's head back to Google Tag Manager. And let's click 'Submit' to publish
our container. Let's name the version. And click 'Publish'. We're now using Cookiebot to integrate
our tags with Consent Mode v2. Remember that whenever you add new tags to Google Tag Manager,
you will need to check the consent settings for those tags. Have you implemented Consent Mode?
I'd love to know! Let me know in the comments. If you'd like to learn more about Cookiebot,
Consent Mode, and Google Tag Manager, please check out the extra resources in the description
below this video. And please subscribe to this channel for all of the latest updates. Thanks
for watching and I'll see you in the next video!
