Google Consent Mode – keep track of your performances

The regulatory landscape is pushing digital ecosystem players to comply with the GDPR. With Apple’s iOS 14 update and the phasing out of cookies planned for this year, Google has introduced Consent Mode to help advertisers track the performance of their campaigns while respecting users’ privacy.

In this article, our experts explain the benefits of Consent Mode and how to integrate it into your Google Ads campaigns.

What is Consent Mode ?

Consent Mode is a beta feature designed to assist advertisers in adopting a privacy-focused digital marketing approach. When a user does not consent to the use of advertising or analytics cookies, Consent Mode automatically adjusts the behavior of relevant Google tags to neither read nor write cookies for advertising or analytics purposes.

This allows advertisers to respect user choices while still gaining insights into their campaigns.

In summary, Consent Mode aims to ensure the collection of useful data for measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, even if users have not consented to cookies.

Here are the Google services that support Consent Mode:

 

Read also :
→ Google Ads Insights Diagnostic

What are the advantages of using Consent Mode ?

Through Consent Mode, advertisers can gain better understanding of conversion data from their campaigns while ensuring that Google tags assisting in conversion measurement respect users’ choices regarding advertising cookies.

By retaining conversion measurement in campaign reports, you can continue to attribute conversions to the appropriate campaign and effectively optimize your bidding strategies. You can also recover nearly 70% of the data required for managing your advertising campaigns through Google tools.

An overview of other benefits of Google’s Consent Mode:

  1. Increased user trust: Transparent and user-friendly consent settings foster trust between website owners and users. When individuals feel in control of their personal information, they are more likely to engage with a website and provide authentic consent, thereby strengthening the relationship between the two parties.
  2. Regulatory compliance: Consent settings play an essential role in complying with data protection regulations such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Websites that implement effective consent management systems can demonstrate their commitment to privacy compliance.
  3. Personalization: Consent settings allow users to personalize their online experience. By choosing their preferences, individuals can receive content and ads that align with their interests, providing a more relevant and personalized browsing experience.
  4. Privacy respect: Consent settings give individuals the opportunity to exercise their privacy rights and participate in how their data is used. By providing clear information and options, website owners demonstrate respect for users’ privacy, fostering a positive perception of their brand or platform.
  5. Data control and security: Effective consent settings empower users to have precise control over their data. They can choose to allow or refuse certain types of data collection, ensuring that their information is only shared with trusted third parties. This control reduces the risks of unauthorized data access or misuse.

Read also
→ New nFADP Regulation in Switzerland: Principles and Impacts on Your Digital Strategy

How does Google’s Consent Mode work ?

Google’s Consent Mode utilizes two new tags to adjust the behavior of Google cookies and tags:

Consent Mode receives information about visitors’ cookie consent levels through these tags. Based on this data, Google’s Consent Mode adapts its functionality according to the user’s choice:

  1. User consent status pings.
  2. Conversion pings: Sent to indicate that a conversion has occurred.
  3. 3. Google Analytics pings: Sent on each page of a website where Google Analytics is implemented and when events are recorded.

Once the pings are sent, if users reject cookies, you will still be able to track conversions from your different advertising campaigns through Google products and track website traffic via Google Analytics. However, this will not provide you with detailed visitor data that could be used for retargeting campaigns or personalized advertisements.
Read also : → Best four effective strategies to target your audience with Google Ads

How to implement Consent Mode in your system ?

To use Google’s Consent Mode, your website needs:

  1. A Consent Management Platform (CMP): A platform that manages consent to ensure that user consent is collected correctly while complying with GDPR regulations.
  2. A consent management platform that guarantees proper collection of user consent while adhering to GDPR regulations.

By integrating the Consent Mode API with your CMP, advertisers can clearly indicate whether the user has given consent for the use of measurement and statistical tracking cookies. Supported Google tags will respect this choice and adjust their behavior accordingly, using cookies only if consent has been granted.

Google’s Consent Mode acts as the link between the CMP used on the website and Google. It serves as the interface that allows Google to adapt its services based on user consent without having direct access to personal data.

You can consult the Google guide at: Google Consent Mode Guide

If you require assistance in implementing Consent Mode, you can rely on Eminence. Our experts will guide you in integrating this new feature effectively.