Google Consent Mode v2: understanding and configuring consent mode

You have probably noticed that over the past few months, many websites have been displaying more detailed consent banners than before.

This is no coincidence. Google has upgraded its Consent Mode to a more demanding version, Consent Mode v2, and websites that do not comply risk seeing their advertising and analytics data seriously reduced.

In this article, we explain what Consent Mode v2 is, why it has become essential, how to configure it on your WordPress site, and which best practices to adopt to remain compliant with regulatory requirements.

What is Google Consent Mode v2?

Consent Mode v2, also known as CoMo V2, is a protocol developed by Google that allows your Google tags (Analytics, Ads, etc.) to adapt their behavior based on the consent expressed by your visitors regarding cookies or app identifiers.

In plain terms, it creates a bridge between your cookie consent banner and Google’s data collection tools, while respecting the choices communicated by your users.

In practice, Consent Mode works through parameters such as granted or denied. When a user accepts cookies, the signal sent is granted. If they refuse, the signal is denied.

Depending on this signal, Google tags will either collect complete data or adopt limited behavior, without disappearing entirely.

This is where the system’s intelligence lies: even in the event of refusal, Google can use statistical modeling to estimate missing data.

This is called conversion modeling. The behavioral signals from users who have given consent make it possible to infer trends for those who have not.

Consent Mode v2 introduces two new parameters compared with the previous version (Consent Mode V1):

1. ad_user_data: controls the sending of user data to Google for advertising purposes.
2. ad_personalization: manages the personalization of personalized ads (particularly remarketing).

These two parameters are added to the four existing ones: analytics_storage, ad_storage, functionality_storage, and security_storage.

Why has Consent Mode v2 become essential?

Regulations to comply with

Since March 2024, Google has required all advertisers using Google Ads or conversion measurement integrations (Google Analytics 4, etc.) to enable Consent Mode v2.

Without it, advertising campaigns can no longer benefit from conversion modeling or remarketing audiences in countries of the European Economic Area (EEA).

This obligation is part of a broader regulatory context. Consent Mode v2 is notably a solution offered by Google to align its marketing tools with various legal obligations—mostly European—such as:

• The Digital Markets Act (legislation on digital markets), which came into force in 2023 and aims to combat the anti-competitive practices of internet giants.
• The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which since 2018 has required explicit user consent before any collection of personal data.
• The ePrivacy Directive, which reinforces this GDPR requirement for cookies.

Who is affected by Consent Mode v2 and what are the consequences?

The Digital Markets Act applies to all users located within the European Union (+ Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), both on the web (website) and on mobile applications.

To comply with it, you must of course use Google’s digital tools such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, etc. 

However, it is important to emphasize that even if your site does not run paid ads, configuring Consent Mode v2 remains a good practice for preserving the quality of your analytics data and demonstrating your GDPR compliance.

For WordPress site owners who use Google Analytics or Google Ads, failing to configure this consent mode has direct consequences:

• Loss of data in Google Analytics for visitors who have refused cookies.
• Inability to track advertising conversions in Google Ads.
• Exclusion from behavioral data modeling features.
• Risk of non-compliance with European regulators.

What are the differences between Consent Mode v1 and v2?

To properly understand how Google’s Consent Mode has evolved, let’s now take a look at what version 2 adds compared with the first version.

Consent Mode v1, in effect since 2020, was based on two main parameters:

1. analytics_storage: storage of information for audience measurement. 
2. ad_storage: storage of information for advertising.

These two tags made it possible to distinguish visitors who had consented to analytics from those who had consented to advertising cookies. It was a step forward, but not sufficient to meet GDPR requirements as precisely as possible.

Consent Mode v2 therefore adds two essential additional parameters (making 4 parameters in total), already mentioned above: ad_user_data and ad_personalization.

This granularity allows for much more precise consent management, in particular making it possible to distinguish the simple display of ads from the personalization of advertising content.

Another major difference: Consent Mode v2 introduces two distinct deployment modes.

• Basic mode: Google tags do not fire before the visitor has expressed their choice. “This configuration does not transmit any data to Google before the user has interacted with the consent banner”, Google explains.
• Advanced mode: tags fire as soon as the page loads, but with denied signals if the user has not yet consented. “Google tags only send full measurement data when a user has agreed to its collection”, Google states. It adds: “This implementation enables better modeling compared with the basic one, because it provides an advertiser-specific model rather than a general model.”

In practice, advanced mode is recommended for sites that want to maximize the quality of their analytics and advertising reports while respecting users’ rights.

Now let’s look at the concrete steps for deploying Consent Mode v2 on your WordPress site.

How to configure Consent Mode v2 on your WordPress site? 

Collecting user consent

First step: collect user consent. To do this, the simplest solution for WordPress users remains using a CMP (Consent Management Platform) that is compatible with Consent Mode v2.

Several tools make it easier to integrate Google Consent Mode, such as: 

• CookieBot by UserCentrics.
• Axeptio.
• iubenda.
• Didomi.

Most of them offer dedicated WordPress plugins that manage communication between the consent banner and your Google tags.

Basically, they automatically send the granted or denied signals to Google tags based on your visitors’ choices. You don’t have to write a single line of code.

However, on a case-by-case basis, you will need to make a few adjustments depending on the solution used. 

Configure Consent Mode v2 for Google tools

Secondly, you need to implement Consent Mode for Google tools.

To do this, there are two main methods: 

1. Using Google Tag Manager (GTM), the most widely used solution for managing marketing tags without touching the code.
2. The gtag.js script, which directly integrates the gtag code on your pages. Here, you need to proceed manually (code integration). Also note that you must add the consent commands to your script before any other gtag command.

The setup is technical and quite intimidating for a non-expert, let’s be honest. To keep it simple and summarize the process for you, remember that there are two main steps to carry out: 

1. Set the default consent state before a user gives their consent.
2. Update the consent state based on the user’s interaction with your consent settings.

The procedure to follow depends on the method you choose (Google Tag Manager or gtag.js).

Google offers a comprehensive guide in its official documentation, if you’d like to tackle it.

To give you a more concrete example, here is a piece of code to use to set consent denial for all default settings (gtag.js implementation): 

gtag('consent', 'default', {    'ad_storage': 'denied',    'ad_user_data': 'denied',    'ad_personalization': 'denied',    'analytics_storage': 'denied'  });

Impact of Consent Mode v2 on Google Analytics and Google Ads

The impact of Consent Mode v2 on your measurement tools is significant, and it is important to understand it in order to interpret your reports correctly.

On the Google Analytics side, Consent Mode v2 makes it possible to distinguish sessions from users who have consented from those of users who have refused.

For the latter, Google applies data modeling in order to reconstruct an overall view of traffic and behavior on your website.

This means that your reports may contain “modeled” data identified as such in the interface.

Without this Consent Mode configured, your analytics data will simply be incomplete: visitors who have refused cookies will not appear in your reports, which can significantly distort your analyses depending on your audience’s refusal rate.

On the Google Ads side, the issue is even more direct. Conversion tracking—that is, the ability to know that a click on an ad led to a purchase or a sign-up—depends directly on the ad_storage and ad_user_data settings.

Without consent, these conversions cannot be tracked. Thanks to conversion modeling enabled by Consent Mode v2 in advanced mode, Google can estimate missing conversions based on the available signals.

Another important point: remarketing audiences and the personalization of advertising campaigns require a granted signal for ad_personalization. Without this, you cannot target your former visitors with personalized ads.

Best practices and mistakes to avoid

Finally, discover the essential recommendations for an effective and compliant configuration.

Best practices to adopt

• Configure Consent Mode v2 in advanced mode to benefit from data modeling while respecting users’ rights.
• Always initialize the consent settings to denied by default before any Google tag is loaded.
• Choose a recognized CMP to automate consent management.
• Regularly test your configuration using the GTM debugging tool or the “Google Tag Assistant” Chrome extension.
• Audit your Google Analytics data to check that modeling is properly active and that signals are being correctly transmitted.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Not initializing consent parameters before tags fire: this is the most common mistake; it invalidates the entire setup.
• Forgetting the two new parameters ad_user_data and ad_personalization specific to Consent Mode v2.
• Using a non-compliant consent banner: pre-ticking boxes, making refusal more difficult than acceptance, or not offering granular choices are practices penalized by the CNIL.
• Neglecting to update your privacy policy to mention the use of data modeling.
• Confusing Basic Mode with Advanced Mode without understanding their implications for the quality of your data.

Where possible, we recommend having your configuration audited by a professional, especially if your site generates a significant volume of SEO traffic or advertising conversions.

Consent Mode v2 is not a mere technical formality: it is a fundamental component of your data collection, regulatory compliance, and marketing performance strategy.

Properly configured, it allows you to continue measuring your analytics and advertising performance while respecting your visitors’ choices.

Configuration can seem complex, between managing storage settings, choosing the deployment mode and integrating with your consent banner. But with the right tools and appropriate support, it remains entirely accessible.

At Maintenance WP, we support WordPress site owners with GDPR compliance, Consent Mode v2 configuration and the optimization of their analytics and advertising tracking tools.

If you want to make sure your site is configured correctly, our team is available to carry out a complete audit and guide you step by step.

FAQ: Consent Mode v2

Do you need a CMP (cookie banner) to use Consent Mode v2?

Yes, a CMP is essential. Consent Mode v2 does not work on its own: it needs an interface to collect your visitors’ choices, then transmit the granted or denied signals to your Google tags. Without a GDPR-compliant consent banner, no signal can be sent. Solutions such as Axeptio, Didomi or Cookiebot integrate natively with Consent Mode v2 and fully automate this communication for WordPress sites.

Does Consent Mode v2 work with Google Tag Manager?

Yes, Google Tag Manager is actually the recommended method for deploying Consent Mode v2. GTM offers an official Google consent settings template that simplifies configuration. You set the default values to denied, then create an update tag triggered according to the user’s choice. This avoids directly modifying your WordPress site’s code and makes maintaining your consent management setup easier.

Does Consent Mode v2 reduce data collection?

On the surface, yes. For visitors who have refused cookies, Google tags do not collect individual data. In reality, Consent Mode v2 offsets this loss through statistical modeling: Google estimates missing data based on the behavior of users who have given consent. Your Google Analytics reports remain usable, with modeled data clearly identified. The quality of your analysis is therefore preserved, while respecting users’ choices.

Can conversions be measured without user consent?

Not directly. Without a granted signal for ad_storage and ad_user_data, individual Google Ads conversion tracking is impossible. However, Consent Mode v2 in advanced mode allows Google to use conversion modeling: aggregated signals from consenting users are used to estimate conversions from visitors who have refused. This approach does not replace obtained consent, but it significantly limits the impact on the measured performance of your advertising campaigns.