Google Consent Mode is a signaling framework that tells Google tags, including Google Analytics and Google Ads, how a visitor answered your cookie banner. It is not a banner itself. The current version, Consent Mode v2, adds two signals that became mandatory for EEA and UK traffic in March 2024.
What Is Google Consent Mode?
Google Consent Mode is a framework that adjusts how Google tags and SDKs behave based on a visitor's cookie consent choice. It communicates that choice through parameters like ad_storage and analytics_storage. It does not collect consent itself. A cookie banner or CMP does that, then passes the choice to Google.
Google introduced the original version in 2020 with two signals, ad_storage and analytics_storage. Consent Mode v2 followed in November 2023 and kept both, then added ad_user_data and ad_personalization. Those two extra signals are the entire difference between v1 and v2. They tell Google whether ad-related user data may be sent and whether it may fuel personalized ads. Google Ads then required v2 for EEA and UK traffic starting March 2024, a requirement driven by the EU Digital Markets Act.
The version number is industry shorthand. Google's own documentation calls the feature simply "consent mode" and defines it through its signal parameters, not a version label.
How Does Google Consent Mode Work?
When a visitor makes a choice in your cookie banner, your CMP passes that choice to Google. It sends a consent state, granted or denied, for each signal. Google tags read that state and adjust what they store and send.
The mechanism runs in two calls. A default() call sets the starting consent state, usually denied, before the visitor interacts with the banner. Sites often vary this default by region using the visitor's country code.
An update() call fires the moment the visitor accepts or rejects. That call changes the tags' behavior in real time.
To set up Consent Mode:
- A visitor loads your site; your CMP sets the default consent state.
- The visitor accepts or rejects in the banner.
- Your CMP calls
update()with the new consent state. - Google tags adjust: they read and write cookies normally on
granted, or withhold cookies and (in advanced mode) send cookieless pings ondenied.
This page covers the concept. For exact gtag('consent', ...) code and Google Tag Manager configuration, see how to set up Google Consent Mode v2. The choice itself starts in your cookie banner, which passes it to Google.
The Four Consent Mode v2 Signals
Consent Mode v2 controls four consent signals. Two carried over from the original version, and two were added for v2. The table below lists each one.
| Signal | What it controls | Version |
|---|---|---|
ad_storage | Advertising cookies and device identifiers | Original |
analytics_storage | Analytics cookies, such as visit duration | Original |
ad_user_data | Sending user data to Google for advertising purposes | v2 |
ad_personalization | Personalized and remarketing ads | v2 |
Google requires both ad_user_data and ad_personalization to be granted before personalized advertising features activate in Google Ads. Google also defines three additional storage types outside this table: functionality_storage (language settings and similar features), personalization_storage (recommendations), and security_storage (authentication and fraud prevention). These three sit outside the "v2" naming discussion, since they cover functionality unrelated to advertising and analytics.
The `ad_storage` signal has its own mechanics worth a closer look if you are debugging tag behavior.
Basic vs Advanced Consent Mode
Basic and advanced consent mode differ in when Google tags fire and what data reaches Google before a visitor answers the banner.
| Basic mode | Advanced mode | |
|---|---|---|
| When tags load | Blocked until the visitor interacts with the banner | Immediately, with consent defaulted to denied |
| Data before consent | None | Cookieless pings (no cookies stored) |
| Modeling | General, category-level modeling | Advertiser-specific conversion modeling |
Basic mode sends zero data to Google until the visitor makes a choice. That is the stricter privacy posture, but it leaves a measurement gap for every visitor who never interacts. Advanced mode closes most of that gap by sending anonymous, cookieless signals while consent is denied. Google's conversion modeling then applies machine learning to those signals to estimate conversions it cannot directly observe, per Google's About consent mode documentation.
Most sites with meaningful EEA or UK ad spend choose advanced mode for the better data. Sites prioritizing the simplest compliance story choose basic instead. Compare basic vs advanced consent mode in detail before you choose, and see how Google fills gaps with conversion modeling.
Is Google Consent Mode Required?
Google Consent Mode v2 is required since March 2024 for any advertiser using Google Ads or Analytics with EEA or UK traffic. It is not legally mandated for US-only sites, though Google increasingly treats it as the default privacy control for its own ad products.
The March 2024 EEA and UK Mandate
Since March 2024, Google Ads has required Consent Mode v2 for conversion tracking and remarketing on EEA and UK traffic. The EU Digital Markets Act drove that requirement. Without it, Google limits or stops collecting data from those visitors. That loss shows up as gaps in conversion tracking and smaller remarketing audiences.
A related shift is worth watching if you run Google Ads. Practitioners have flagged a change starting June 15, 2026. The Google Signals setting in Google Analytics will stop limiting personal data sent to Google Ads for cross-site remarketing. That change makes Consent Mode the primary privacy control for that data flow.
Multiple independent practitioners, including analysts at Usercentrics and Merkle, reported this shift. Google has not published a dated announcement confirming it as of this writing. Treat it as a signal to verify in your own account, not a settled fact.
Do US-Only Sites Need Consent Mode?
Consent Mode is not legally required for purely US traffic. Adopt it anyway if you serve any EEA, UK, or Swiss visitors. It also future-proofs your measurement as Google leans on the signal more broadly.
Practitioners discussing this on Reddit consistently land on the same answer: US-only advertisers are not currently obligated to implement it. The EU Digital Markets Act does not apply to purely domestic US traffic. That guidance shifts the moment any EEA or UK visitor reaches your site, because Google's mandate applies per visitor, not per business location.
Does Consent Mode Replace a Cookie Banner or CMP?
No. Consent Mode does not collect consent or display a banner; it only relays the consent your banner or CMP already captured. You still need a cookie banner, and for EEA compliance a certified CMP, to obtain and record that consent before wiring it to Consent Mode.
This also answers a common related question: Consent Mode alone is not a GDPR compliance solution. GDPR compliance depends on how you collect, store, and document consent. That job belongs to a consent management platform. Consent Mode is only the pipe that carries the visitor's answer to Google after your CMP has already collected it correctly.
A separate but related standard, IAB TCF, governs consent for programmatic advertising vendors. It is not the same system as Consent Mode, though a single CMP can support both.
How Consently Sends Google Consent Mode v2 Signals
Consently is a Google-certified CMP for Additional Consent (AC v2). It wires your cookie banner to Consent Mode v2 and sends all four signals automatically, enabled by default, with no manual gtag('consent') code required.
Consently captures the visitor's choice in its banner, then relays it to Google as the visitor interacts. ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data, and ad_personalization update in real time without a developer maintaining custom tag logic. Consently keeps its Consent Mode settings separate from its IAB TCF 2.3 configuration. Publishers running both programmatic ads and Google Ads can manage each independently from the same dashboard.
Correct CMP-to-Google sync matters here. A banner that captures consent but never relays it accurately to Google causes most of the conversion drops site owners report after enabling Consent Mode.
See Consently's Google Consent Mode v2 support for the full feature breakdown. Or try Consently free to get your banner wired to Consent Mode v2 without writing any code.
FAQs
Is Google Consent Mode free?
Yes. Consent Mode itself is a free Google feature, built from configuration and code inside your Google tags rather than a paid product. Any cost comes from the CMP you use to capture and relay consent to it.
Is there a Google Consent Mode v3?
No official Consent Mode v3 exists. The current version is v2, in place since March 2024, and Google has not announced a successor. Searches for v3 typically reflect confusion with routine documentation updates, not a new release.
Does Consent Mode work with GA4 and Google Ads?
Yes. Consent Mode governs Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads tags directly, plus any other Google tag fired through gtag.js or Google Tag Manager. It adjusts cookie use and data collection based on the visitor's consent state.
Why did my conversions drop after enabling Consent Mode?
Usually a misconfiguration, such as a banner that captures consent but does not relay it to Google correctly. It can also be the expected effect of no longer tracking visitors who decline. Advanced mode's conversion modeling recovers some of that gap by estimating denied conversions from cookieless signals. Basic mode does not model at all, so its drop looks larger by comparison.
Check your CMP-to-tag wiring first. The setup guide above and the conversion modeling breakdown both cover the exact fixes.
How do I check if Consent Mode is working?
Check your network requests for the gcs consent signal parameter. A value like gcs=G100 appearing before the visitor consents confirms advanced mode is sending cookieless pings correctly. Google Tag Assistant verifies the same setup, and Google Ads now shows a Consent Mode status card in its Diagnostics tab for a faster check.
Is Consent Mode the same as IAB TCF?
No. Consent Mode is Google's own signaling mechanism for its tags. IAB TCF is a separate industry framework for programmatic advertising consent used across many ad-tech vendors. A single CMP, including Consently, can support both at once without conflict.
What is Google Additional Consent mode?
Google Additional Consent (AC) is a separate mechanism from Consent Mode. It gathers consent for Google Ad Tech Partners not yet on the IAB TCF Global Vendor List. That consent travels as a supplemental string alongside the TCF consent string. It governs which ad-tech vendors run, not how Google tags behave.
How do I turn off Google Consent Mode?
You disable Consent Mode inside your CMP or tag setup, not Google Ads. Remove the gtag('consent') configuration, or toggle Consent Mode off in your CMP dashboard. Turning it off for EEA or UK traffic can limit Google Ads conversion tracking and remarketing, so most advertisers reconfigure it rather than remove it.
