Consent Mode tells Google’s tags how to behave based on what a visitor actually consents to — sending less data, or modelled estimates, rather than nothing at all when consent is denied — and since March 2024 it’s required for advertising features in the EU, which makes correct integration between your cookie banner and Google’s tags a compliance matter, not just a technical nicety.
What Consent Mode actually changes, and what it doesn’t
Consent Mode doesn’t decide your cookie policy or what you’re required to ask visitors — that’s a legal and business decision that should already be reflected in your cookie banner’s own configuration. What this connects is your banner’s actual consent choices to how Google’s tags then behave, so the technical behaviour matches what you’ve already told visitors would happen.
Consent Mode v2 & cookie banner integration
Consent Mode v2 connected to your actual cookie banner, so Google's tags behave the way you've already told visitors they would.
- Full backup taken before we start
- If we can’t fix it, you get your money back
- We never ask for your own password
What we need from you
- Which cookie/consent management plugin, if any, is currently in use
- Confirmation of what your banner’s categories actually are (analytics, advertising, and so on)
- Whether you’re specifically required to comply with EU consent requirements, or setting this up more broadly
This or something else?
| You want Consent Mode properly connected to your existing cookie banner | This fix covers it |
| You don’t have a cookie banner at all yet | A different, banner-implementation task first |
| You want to test whether your current consent setup actually blocks scripts correctly | Consent banner behaviour testing, a related service |
| You’re not using Google Tag Manager | This fix covers it; direct implementation is possible without GTM too |
What we do
- Confirm your cookie banner’s consent categories and current configuration
- Implement Consent Mode v2’s default and update signals
- Connect the banner’s actual consent choices to those signals
- Configure Google tags to respect consent state correctly
- Test each consent state (accept, decline, no choice yet) and confirm tag behaviour matches
- Verify using GTM’s Preview mode and, where relevant, GA4’s DebugView
What is included
- Consent Mode v2 correctly implemented and connected to your cookie banner
- Verified tag behaviour across every consent state
- Configuration matching your stated cookie categories
- A written explanation of how it behaves in each state
Not included
- Legal advice on what your cookie banner needs to ask or disclose
- Setting up a cookie banner from scratch, if none exists
- Testing whether your banner blocks scripts correctly beyond Consent Mode’s own signals — a separate testing service
- Ongoing adjustment as you add new tags or tracking tools later
Questions about this fix
Does this make my site legally compliant on its own?
No — this is the technical implementation of Consent Mode specifically; overall compliance depends on your cookie banner's own disclosures and categories too, which is a legal question.
What happens to my Google Ads data if consent is declined?
Consent Mode sends modelled, aggregated data rather than nothing at all, which helps preserve some measurement while still respecting the visitor's actual choice.
Do I need this if most of my visitors aren't in the EU?
Technically Consent Mode's advertising requirement is EU-specific, but implementing it consistently avoids maintaining two different tracking setups for different visitors.
Will declining consent break my site's functionality for visitors?
No — Consent Mode only affects how Google's own tags behave, not the functioning of your site itself, which should work identically regardless of a visitor's consent choice.
How do I know my banner's consent choices are actually reaching Google's tags correctly?
We verify this directly in testing — checking each consent state and confirming the tag's actual behaviour matches what should happen, not just assuming the connection works.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.