Google introduced Consent Mode V2: what do you need to know?

Google has introduced an update known as Consent Mode V2. From March 1 anyone who wants to collect and process user data at Google will have to meet the requirements of the European Economic Community's user personal information management policy. This update is Google's commitment to provide an even better, more transparent experience for users.

1) What is Consent Mode V2?

The Consent Mode tool enables websites to share information with Google, which can be used for analytical, advertising or personalization purposes, depending on the respective cookie settings. This ensures that advertising campaigns are only tracked with the user's consent.

In November 2023, Google introduced Consent Mode V2, which is a supplement to the previous version of Consent Mode (the original consent with cookies).

From 2024 March 1 Consent Mode V2 becomes mandatory for all websites that use Google products such as Google Ads, Google Play, etc.

2) Essential functionalities of Consent Mode V2:

Google has added two additional consent parameters to the two it already has (analytics_storage and ad_storage) to support user-specific consents when sending data to Google:

-   ad_user_data: Consent to send user data to Google for the purpose of displaying advertisements.

-   ad_personalization: Consent is given for advertising personalization purposes, e.g. retargeting advertising.

2 additional consent parameters for Consent Mode V2

3) Consent Mode V2 installation is required from now on

The Digital Marketing Act, which Google and Consent Mode V2 must comply with, is particularly relevant when it comes to digital marketing and data privacy regulation. This law requires campaigns like Google to obtain explicit user consents to collect and use personal information of European Union citizens.

In order to comply with the latest requirements of this law, Google updated its Consent Mode tool and made it mandatory for all advertisers who want to continue using Google Ads tool features such as retargeting and automated optimization options (auto-bidding). These requirements have been adopted to allow continued use of audience segmentation and targeted advertising.

Remarketing campaigns collect data and segment audiences based on user habits, so it is necessary to comply with Google and EU data security requirements in order for such campaigns to continue to function. Not installing Consent Mode V2 from 2024 March 1 no information about new European Union citizens visiting your website will be collected and used on Google Ads and GA4 platforms. This will have significant negative consequences for the effectiveness of advertising, the implementation of advertising strategies, etc.

4) What action to take?

- If your website has one of the consent management tools approved by Google, e.g. CookieBot, then you don't need to do anything - the changes will be automatically installed and meet the latest requirements.

- If your website does not have one of the consent management tools approved by Google, then we recommend that you contact us. We are one of the Google CMP (Consent Management Platform) partners and work with the CookieBot platform. We will implement this tool on your website, which will ensure compliance with EU and Google privacy requirements both now and in the future.

- If you choose to ensure compliance with the new requirements yourself, you can follow the documentation provided by Google, which can be found here: https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/security/guides/consent#upgrade-consent-v2

With the built-in consent mode in V2, you will not only record customer conversion data, but also protect privacy. If you have any questions about Google Consent Mode V2, please get in touch and we will help you.