Set Up and Test Consent Mode v2

At a glance

What

A Google mechanism that controls Google tags based on visitors' consent

Four parameters

Analytics, advertising, user data for advertising and personalization

Modes

Basic loads tags only after consent, Advanced loads them immediately with default values

In the EEA

Google requires consent and consent signals if you use analytics, personalized ads and remarketing (EEA: European Economic Area)

Test

Tag Assistant for the values in the browser, conversion diagnostics in Google Ads for the status

Our standard

Advanced mode for new clients, with a consent management solution

A cookie banner asks visitors whether they allow analytics and advertising cookies. Google Consent Mode translates this decision into signals that Google tags understand. Only then do the Google Ads tag and GA4 know what they may store and send.

Google extended the interface by two parameters: ad_user_data and ad_personalization. This version is called Consent Mode v2. According to Google, consent solutions certified by Google update their integration for this automatically. If you built Consent Mode in yourself, you add the two parameters by hand.

Google obliges advertisers to follow the EU User Consent Policy. It applies to users in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. If you want to keep using analytics, personalized ads and remarketing for these users, you collect consent and send consent signals to Google, according to the Google help.

Consent Mode is the way these signals reach Google. For German websites with Google Ads or GA4, it is therefore part of the basic setup. For customer match lists, Google names a separate rule: Since March 2024, both new consent fields must be set to "granted" there for the EEA.

Each parameter has the value "granted" (allowed) or "denied" (refused):

Swipe sideways to see the whole table.

According to the Tag Manager help, ad_user_data is required for measurement, for example for enhanced conversions and tag-based conversion tracking. There are also three privacy parameters: functionality_storage for functions such as language settings, personalization_storage for personalization such as video recommendations and security_storage for security such as fraud prevention.

Swipe sideways to see the whole table.

Basic mode: The Google tags load only once the visitor has decided in the banner. If they refuse, no data goes to Google. Modeling then relies on a general model.

Advanced mode: The tags load immediately with default values. As long as consent is missing, they send measurements without cookies. Google builds a model for your account from them, which models in more detail according to Google.

For new clients, we use Advanced mode. Basic mode comes into question if no consent solution can be connected or if the legal review rules out pings without consent.

If a visitor refuses, Google Ads does not see their conversion directly. Conversion modeling estimates this gap. According to Google, the estimated conversions appear in the "Conversions" column, in all reports with conversion columns, and feed into bidding strategies.

Google names requirements for this:

• Consent Mode is set up correctly, or the IAB standard TCF v2.0 is integrated correctly.
• The account gets at least 700 ad clicks per day, country and domain grouping over a period of 7 days.

Small accounts often do not reach this threshold. Then you stay with directly measured conversions, and Consent Mode mainly secures consent. According to Google, it does not use measurements without consent for remarketing lists or user profiles.

A note from Google for context: For users who have consented, the likelihood of conversion is usually two to five times higher. So part of those who refuse would not buy anyway, and modeling does not simply extrapolate. If you switched from target CPA or target ROAS to "Maximize conversions", Google recommends reviewing a return after modeling starts.

Cookiebot appears in the Tag Manager help in the list of consent solutions that work with Consent Mode. The steps apply similarly to other solutions from this list, such as Usercentrics. On WordPress websites, we also use Borlabs Cookie after agreement.

1. Choose a Consent Solution and Set Up the Banner

Without a solution that records and stores consents, there is no consent-based measurement. In the banner, define which services fall into which category. For clients, we set up the solution in the client's account so that it belongs to the business.

2. Add the Template From the Community Template Gallery

In Google Tag Manager, you create a new tag and choose your consent solution's template from the Community Template Gallery. Enter the details from your Cookiebot account that the template asks for.

3. Set the "Consent Initialization – All Pages" Trigger

The consent tag fires on the trigger "Consent Initialization – All Pages". According to Google, this trigger always fires before all other tags. That way the default values are in place before any Google tag starts.

4. Set Default Values for All Four Parameters

The tag sets default values for at least ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization, usually "denied". Google advises not setting default values asynchronously and not calling the consent command through a custom HTML tag. With the region parameter, you set separate default values per country if needed.

5. Tie Google Tags to Consent

In Advanced mode, the Google Ads tag and GA4 tag load immediately and adjust their behavior to the values. In Basic mode, you block them until the matching consent exists.

6. Check Enhanced Conversions and Ads Data Redaction

Enhanced conversions send hashed user data only if ad_user_data is granted. With ads_data_redaction, Google Ads deletes stored advertising information if the visitor refuses. Decide both deliberately and record it in the tracking documentation.

7. Publish and Test the Container

Only the published container takes effect on the website. The test with Tag Assistant follows, as described in the next section.

1. Open Tag Assistant, enter your website's address and connect.
2. In the summary, select the first consent event. In the "API Call" area or in the "Consent" tab in the "On-page Default" column, you see the default values of the four parameters.
3. Agree or refuse in the banner. Select the last consent event and check the "On-page Update" column.
4. Under "Tags", check which tags fired and which were blocked.
5. If you want to test regional default values, change the location in Chrome's developer tools.

In Google Ads, the "Conversion diagnostics" tab shows the status of Consent Mode. If it says "Active", the signals arrive. In GA4, you check in DebugView whether the events are transmitted cleanly.

• The tags load before the consent default.
• The banner shows an agreement that the tag does not receive.
• ad_user_data and ad_personalization are missing because the integration dates from before version 2.
• The conversion is set up twice.
• The privacy policy is outdated.
• Nobody checks after the website relaunch whether the setup still works.

Many of these points also appear in our list of the most common mistakes in a Google Ads account.

Frequently asked questions

Is Consent Mode v2 mandatory?

For users in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Google requires consent under the EU User Consent Policy. If you use analytics, personalized ads and remarketing, you send consent signals to Google, according to the Google help. Consent Mode is the way to do that. The legal assessment of your website is for your data protection advisor to clarify.

What is the difference between Consent Mode v1 and v2?

Version 2 adds the parameters ad_user_data and ad_personalization. They control whether user data goes to Google for advertising and whether personalized advertising is allowed. Without them, Google lacks the signals for enhanced conversions and remarketing.

Basic or Advanced mode: which should I choose?

Advanced mode delivers a model tailored to your account and thus more detailed modeling. But it sends measurements without cookies, even without consent. Basic mode sends nothing without consent. For new clients, we go with Advanced, after agreement with the data protection advisor.

What happens if nobody agrees?

Then direct measurement data is missing for those visitors. In Advanced mode, Google estimates the missing conversions once the account reaches the thresholds. Google names no fixed rate for how much of it comes back.

From when does Google Ads model conversions?

Google names two requirements: a correctly set up Consent Mode and at least 700 ad clicks over a period of 7 days per day, country and domain grouping. Once they are met, training of the model begins. The values then appear in the "Conversions" column.

Does Consent Mode v2 work with Cookiebot?

Yes. Cookiebot appears in the Tag Manager help in the list of consent solutions for Consent Mode. You integrate Cookiebot via the template in Google Tag Manager and set the trigger "Consent Initialization – All Pages".

Do I need Google Tag Manager?

No. Consent Mode also works with the Google tag (gtag.js) directly in the page code. Then the consent commands sit in the code above all tag snippets. Tag Manager makes upkeep and testing easier when several tags run.

How do I check whether my Consent Mode runs correctly?

With Tag Assistant, you see default and update values of the four parameters and which tags were blocked. In Google Ads, conversion diagnostics show whether Consent Mode is active. Test both cases: agreeing and refusing.

Do I need an agency for this?

The steps are doable if you handle Tag Manager and your consent solution confidently. Errors often only show up in the reporting. How we set up and check tracking is shown on the page tracking agency. For your Google Ads conversions to be right, the test is part of the start of every campaign.

Sources (retrieved on 5 November 2026): Google for Developers: Consent Mode · Google for Developers: Verify and debug Consent Mode · Google Ads Help: Consent Mode · Google Ads Help: Conversion modeling for Consent Mode · Google Ads Help: Customer Match and consent · Tag Manager Help: Consent overview · Tag Manager Help: EU user consent policy · Google: EU User Consent Policy