Google Consent Mode v2

Google Consent Mode tells Google Analytics and Google Ads what the visitor allowed. Google Ads needs it to measure visitors from the EU. Cookie Consent sends it for you; turn it on with Google Consent Mode v2 on the Behaviour tab. It is on by default.

The default and the update

Cookie Consent prints the Consent Mode default in the page head, before any Google tag can load. When the visitor chooses, or when a returning visitor’s saved choice is read, it sends an update.

Signal	Default in Opt-in and Opt-out	Updated from
ad_storage	denied	Marketing
ad_user_data	denied	Marketing
ad_personalization	denied	Marketing
analytics_storage	denied	Analytics
personalization_storage	denied	Preferences
functionality_storage	granted	always granted
security_storage	granted	always granted

The default also sets wait_for_update to 500 ms. In Notice only mode everything starts granted.

The default never reads the visitor’s cookie. The page is cached for everyone, so the saved choice is applied as an update in the browser instead.

Note

The default is printed with data-no-optimize and data-cfasync="false", so LiteSpeed and Cloudflare do not move it after the Google tags.

Settings

On the Behaviour tab:

• Google tags before consent:
  • Wait (basic): Google tags wait for consent.
  • Load without cookies (advanced): Google tags load at once without cookies and send anonymous pings, so Google can model the visits it cannot see.
• Ask for consent in: Every country, or Europe only (EEA, UK, Switzerland). With Europe only, visitors from other countries start with everything granted in Google tags. The banner itself still shows for everyone.
• Redact ad data while refused: while ads are refused, Google tags drop ad click IDs and send requests from a cookieless domain. On by default.
• Pass click IDs in links: keeps the ad click ID in the address between pages, so Google Ads can count a conversion without cookies. Off by default.

Basic mode needs something that holds the tags

In basic mode, a Google tag waits only if something holds it back. Tags loaded by Pixel Tracking wait on their own. A Google tag you added by hand waits only if you mark it as <script type="text/plain" data-brl-consent="statistics">. With Cookie Consent Pro, automatic blocking holds the known Google tags for you, and the hint on the Behaviour tab goes away.

Global Privacy Control

Respect Global Privacy Control is on by default. Global Privacy Control is a browser setting that sends a “do not sell or share” signal. Some US states treat it as a legal opt-out.

A browser that sends it starts with marketing off. Where ads would otherwise start granted (Notice only mode, or outside Europe with Europe only), the three ad signals start denied from the first Google tag on. The signal is respected on the server too.

WP Consent API

Bridge WP Consent API is on by default. It exposes the visitor’s choices to wp_has_consent and wp_set_consent, so other plugins that ask WordPress about consent get the same answer. Opt-in is reported as optin; Opt-out and Notice only as optout.

Check it works

1. Open a page in a private window, before you answer the banner.
2. In Google Tag Assistant, the consent state should show the denied defaults.
3. Accept Analytics only. The update should grant analytics_storage and keep the ad signals denied.

On the Dashboard, the check Google hears the answer is fine while Google Consent Mode v2 is on.