Consent Mode v2: How not to miss out on targeted advertising

The setup itself requires considerable technical skill. If you want to eliminate the risk of data loss quickly and painlessly, contact us at online@promogen.cz or fill in the contact form at the end of this article. 

So what's going on? As of March 6, you will now need to implement two new consent groups in the cookie bar, and to "ad_user_data" and "ad_personalization". If you don't do this, say goodbye to marketing campaigns to your customers as you know them. Likewise with analytics.

The setup is not entirely trivial. So if you are not sure, contact us directly, we will be happy to help you. Contact details can be found at the end of this article.

What is a consent group and what do we (almost all of us) have now? 

• ad_storage - we may store cookies for advertising 
• analytics_storage - we can store cookies for analytics 
• functionality_storage - we can store (not only) cookies intended for the proper functioning of the website, for example, the choice of the language version of the website 
• personalization_storage - we can store (not only) cookies for website personalization 
• security_storage - we can store (not only) cookies for website security  

These are now mostly grouped into essential, analytical and marketing.

However, two new groups of consents will be added from 6 March 2024: 

• ad_user_data - permission to send user data about ad targeting to Google 
• ad_personalization - permissions for personalized advertising 

You can obtain consent in two ways. Depending on which one you choose, the data will be further processed. 

Basic Consent Mode

If the user agrees to cookies, the website behaves normally, runs all tags and collects complete data. However, if the user does not consent, no data is collected and no cookieless pings are sent to Google. In short, if the user doesn't check that they agree, Google is blind. 

To implement the Basic Consent Module: 

• Set the CMP (e.g. CookieBot) to manage user consents. 
• Configure your website so that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) or similar tags are not triggered if a user rejects cookies. 
• Integrate the consent flag to notify Google of the user's consent decision.

Advanced Consent Mode

It offers a more convenient approach for the e-shop owner. Even if users do not consent to cookies, it allows anonymous cookieless pings to be sent to Google for modelling purposes. This allows sites to recover a certain level of data for Google Ads and GA4, even without user consent. 

To implement the Advanced Consent Module: 

• Set the CMP (e.g. CookieBot) to manage user consents. 
• Configure the site so that when you refuse consent, GA4 cookies are not set but the consent flag is passed to Google. 
• Submit cookieless pings to Google for data modeling. 

Now the important question. What happens if you don't deploy the new change?  

In contrast to the current situation, Google will now be responsible for working with data. It will therefore deploy its bots to check compliance with the new consents. Once it detects a discrepancy, your campaigns will be stopped until the issue is resolved. 

How do you know if I have consent mode v2 implemented correctly on my site? 

1. Open your page in an anonymous window in Google Chrome, and before you confirm your consent in the cookie bar, right-click into the page and choose explore. 
2. Select the console tab and type "dataLayer" (case sensitive) 
3. Look for Arguments "consent", which should look like this
   
4. Clear all cookies in your tray and type "dataLayer" again in the console 
5. Then you should see the changes for each variable from denied to granted:
   

If you see a different result, you need to verify, correct or adjust the implementation. 

How to implement the change and what tools to use 

You can integrate the change into your current bar. However, a more secure solution is to use a certified CMP (consent management platform). Some of the most popular ones include CookieBot. Deploying the required changes can be done via GTM for this tool.

Of course, the solution can also be implemented on the popular and widespread platform Shoptet. As silver partners, we will be happy to help with the implementation. 

Worried that you can't handle the setup and control yourself? Contact my colleague Jakub Male, either by e-mail at online@promogen.cz or on the phone. 734 151 260. You can also contact us via the contact form at the end of this article.

Our team of experts will be happy to help you with analysis, setup and implementation. Even if you do not use our services, do not underestimate the deployment. You could really miss out on the ability to properly target your advertising the way you're used to.