Google Consent Mode V2: Privacy-Compliant Setup Guide 2026

Privacy regulations are reshaping digital advertising, and Google Consent Mode V2 is now a mandatory requirement for any advertiser targeting users in the European Union. Since the Digital Markets Act (DMA) enforcement began in March 2024, running Google Ads remarketing or conversion tracking without proper consent implementation means losing access to these capabilities entirely for EU audiences. Even outside the EU, privacy-first measurement approaches are becoming the standard as regulations expand globally.

This guide covers everything you need to implement Consent Mode V2 correctly. From understanding the technical requirements to choosing between Basic and Advanced modes, you will learn how to maintain compliant advertising operations while preserving the measurement accuracy that powers effective campaign optimization. The advertisers who adapt to this privacy-first reality are the ones who will maintain competitive advantage in 2026 and beyond.

Understanding Consent Mode V2 Requirements

Google Consent Mode V2 is a framework that allows your Google tags to adjust their behavior based on user consent choices. When a user visits your website and interacts with your consent banner, their choices are communicated to Google tags through specific consent signals. These signals determine what data can be collected, stored, and used for advertising purposes.

The original Consent Mode introduced two signals: ad_storage for advertising cookies and analytics_storage for analytics cookies. Consent Mode V2 adds two new required signals that must be implemented for full compliance. The ad_user_data signal controls whether user data can be sent to Google for advertising purposes, while ad_personalization controls whether data can be used for personalized advertising including remarketing and audience building.

Why Consent Mode V2 became mandatory

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) designates Google as a gatekeeper platform, requiring explicit user consent before their data can be shared with Google services for advertising. Without Consent Mode V2 implementation, Google cannot verify that you have obtained valid consent from EU users. The consequence is straightforward: no consent verification means no access to remarketing lists, no conversion tracking, and no audience signals for these users.

This is not simply a compliance checkbox. Advertisers without proper implementation report losing 30-60% of their EU audience reach for remarketing campaigns and seeing significant drops in reported conversions. The measurement gap undermines Smart Bidding optimization, creating a compounding performance problem. Implementing Consent Mode V2 correctly preserves these capabilities while respecting user privacy choices.

The four consent signals explained

All four signals work together. For full advertising functionality including remarketing and conversion tracking, all four must be set to "granted." If a user declines any of these, the corresponding functionality is restricted. The key insight is that the two new V2 signals (ad_user_data and ad_personalization) must be explicitly implemented. They do not inherit from ad_storage automatically.

Basic vs Advanced Consent Mode

Google offers two implementation approaches for Consent Mode V2, and the choice between them significantly impacts your measurement capabilities. Understanding the trade-offs is essential for making the right decision for your business.

Basic Consent Mode

Basic Consent Mode blocks all Google tags from loading until the user grants consent. No data whatsoever is sent to Google before consent is obtained. When a user declines consent, no tracking occurs and no information about that user reaches Google. This is the most conservative privacy approach and may be preferred by businesses with strict compliance requirements or those operating in highly regulated industries.

The limitation of Basic mode is significant: you lose all measurement capability for users who decline consent. In markets with high consent decline rates, this can mean losing visibility into 40-60% of your website traffic and conversions. Smart Bidding algorithms cannot optimize effectively when such a large portion of conversion data is missing, leading to degraded campaign performance.

Advanced Consent Mode

Advanced Consent Mode sends cookieless pings to Google even when consent has not been granted or has been explicitly denied. These pings contain no personally identifiable information and do not store cookies on the user's device. Instead, they provide aggregate behavioral signals that Google uses to model conversions and maintain measurement accuracy.

The key benefit is conversion modeling. Google uses the cookieless pings alongside data from consenting users to statistically model conversions from non-consenting users. This recovers 50-70% of conversions that would be completely invisible under Basic mode. The modeled conversions feed into your Google Ads reports and, critically, into Smart Bidding optimization, maintaining algorithm effectiveness despite consent gaps.

Choosing the right mode

For most advertisers, Advanced Consent Mode is the recommended choice. It provides the measurement recovery needed for effective campaign optimization while still respecting user privacy. The cookieless pings do not violate GDPR or DMA requirements because they contain no personal data and do not enable individual user tracking. However, consult with your legal team to ensure Advanced mode aligns with your specific compliance requirements.

Implementation via Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is the recommended approach for implementing Consent Mode V2. It provides a centralized interface for managing consent states, integrates with major Consent Management Platforms, and allows testing before deployment. Most advertisers already use GTM for their tracking implementation, making it the natural place to add consent management.

Step 1: Enable consent overview

Start by enabling consent features in your GTM container. Navigate to Admin > Container Settings and enable "Enable consent overview." This activates consent-related functionality throughout GTM, including the ability to set default consent states and configure tag-level consent requirements.

Step 2: Configure default consent states

Default consent states determine how tags behave before a user interacts with your consent banner. For EU compliance, configure all four consent signals to default to "denied" for visitors from EEA regions. This ensures no data collection occurs until explicit consent is obtained.

In GTM, create a new tag using the "Consent Initialization - All Pages" trigger. Set the default state for each signal. You can use region-specific settings to apply "denied" defaults only to EEA visitors while allowing "granted" defaults for other regions where consent banners may not be legally required.

Step 3: Integrate your Consent Management Platform

Your Consent Management Platform (CMP) handles the consent banner, stores user preferences, and communicates consent choices to GTM. Google-certified CMPs include built-in Consent Mode V2 support that simplifies this integration significantly. When a user makes a consent choice, the CMP automatically updates the consent states in GTM.

For GTM integration, most CMPs provide either a community template or custom tag template that you add to your container. Configure the template with your CMP account credentials and map the CMP consent categories to the four Google consent signals. Test thoroughly in GTM preview mode to verify that consent choices correctly update all four signals.

Common GTM configuration example

Step 4: Configure tag consent settings

Each Google tag in your container needs consent settings configured. For Google Ads Conversion Tracking and Remarketing tags, set "Require additional consent for tag to fire" and select the appropriate consent types. This ensures tags only fire when users have granted the necessary consent, regardless of your default configuration.

For Advanced Consent Mode, enable "Send cookieless pings" on your Google tags. This allows the tags to send the anonymized data that powers conversion modeling even when consent is denied. Without this setting enabled, you get Basic mode behavior even if you intended Advanced implementation.

Impact on Conversion Tracking and Modeling

Consent Mode V2 fundamentally changes how conversion data is collected and reported. The shift from complete tracking to consent-dependent measurement requires understanding how modeling fills the gaps and what this means for your reported metrics.

How conversion modeling works

Google's conversion modeling uses machine learning trained on aggregated data from consenting users to estimate conversions from non-consenting users. The model considers factors like traffic patterns, device types, time of day, and behavioral signals from cookieless pings to predict conversion likelihood. These modeled conversions are then added to your observed conversions to provide a more complete picture.

The modeling is not a simple extrapolation. Google's algorithms account for the fact that users who decline consent may behave differently than those who accept. By analyzing patterns across millions of users globally, the model achieves reasonable accuracy while acknowledging inherent uncertainty. Modeled conversions appear in your reports with a specific indicator so you can distinguish them from directly observed conversions.

Reporting implications

Your Google Ads conversion reports now include both observed and modeled conversions. In regions with high consent rates, modeled conversions may be a small portion of your total. In regions or audiences with lower consent rates, modeled conversions could represent a significant percentage. Understanding this breakdown is important for accurate performance analysis.

Smart Bidding strategies use the combined total of observed and modeled conversions for optimization. This maintains bidding effectiveness even when a large portion of conversions are modeled rather than directly observed. Google recommends trusting the modeled totals for optimization purposes while being aware that individual campaign-level modeling may have higher variance for smaller data sets.

What to expect after implementation

• Initial conversion drop: Expect reported conversions to decrease initially as consent requirements take effect
• Modeling ramp-up: Conversion modeling takes 7-14 days to calibrate after Consent Mode V2 implementation
• Recovery percentage: With Advanced mode, expect 50-70% recovery of conversions from non-consenting users
• Regional variation: Conversion recovery varies by region based on consent acceptance rates
• Smart Bidding adjustment: Allow 2-3 weeks for Smart Bidding to stabilize after implementation

EU Compliance Requirements Under the DMA

The Digital Markets Act imposes specific requirements on gatekeepers like Google and on advertisers who use their platforms. Understanding these requirements ensures your implementation meets legal standards while maintaining advertising effectiveness.

What the DMA requires

The DMA requires gatekeepers to obtain user consent before combining personal data from different services or using personal data for targeted advertising. For advertisers, this translates to a requirement for demonstrable consent before user data can be shared with Google for advertising purposes. Consent Mode V2 provides the technical mechanism for communicating this consent status to Google.

Importantly, the DMA consent requirement applies to all users in the European Economic Area, regardless of citizenship or where your business is located. If you target ads to users in Germany, France, or any other EEA country, you must implement Consent Mode V2 for those users. There is no exemption based on business size or advertising spend.

Consent banner requirements

Your consent banner must meet GDPR and ePrivacy Directive requirements, which the DMA builds upon. This means clear disclosure of what data is collected and how it is used, equally prominent accept and reject options, no dark patterns that manipulate user choices, and the ability for users to change their preferences at any time.

Many Consent Management Platforms help ensure banner compliance, but the legal responsibility remains with you as the advertiser. Regular audits of your consent implementation should verify that banners display correctly, consent choices are recorded accurately, and those choices are properly communicated to all tracking technologies.

Documentation and accountability

Maintain records of your consent implementation including when Consent Mode V2 was implemented, which CMP you use, how consent choices map to the four Google signals, and any changes made to your configuration. This documentation may be required to demonstrate compliance during audits or in response to regulatory inquiries.

Consent Mode Best Practices for Advertisers

Beyond the technical implementation, strategic decisions about consent management affect both compliance and advertising performance. These best practices help you optimize the balance between privacy and measurement.

Optimize consent acceptance rates

Higher consent acceptance rates mean more direct measurement and less reliance on modeling. While you cannot use manipulative tactics, legitimate optimization improves user experience and consent rates simultaneously. Clear, concise banner language explaining value exchange performs better than legal jargon. Professional, trustworthy banner design increases acceptance. Reducing banner intrusiveness while maintaining compliance shows respect for users.

Test different banner configurations to find what works for your audience. A/B testing banner copy, design, and timing can yield significant improvements in consent rates. Some CMPs provide built-in analytics showing consent acceptance by region, device, and other factors, enabling data-driven optimization.

Monitor consent mode health

Regular monitoring ensures your implementation continues working correctly. Check the Google Tag Assistant for Consent Mode diagnostics, review the consent state section in GTM debug mode, and monitor your CMP dashboard for unusual patterns. Sudden drops in consent rates or consent signals failing to update can indicate technical issues requiring immediate attention.

Coordinate across platforms

If you advertise across multiple platforms, coordinate your consent implementation for consistency. The same consent that enables Google advertising should typically enable Meta, TikTok, and other platforms. Your CMP should communicate consent choices to all relevant tracking technologies, not just Google tags. See our guides on Meta Conversions API and TikTok GDPR compliance for platform-specific implementation guidance.

Plan for global expansion of privacy regulations

Privacy regulations continue expanding beyond the EU. California, Brazil, Canada, and other jurisdictions have enacted or are developing similar requirements. Implementing Consent Mode V2 with a flexible, global approach prepares your infrastructure for compliance in new markets without requiring complete reimplementation.

Troubleshooting Common Implementation Issues

Even careful implementations can encounter problems. These troubleshooting approaches help identify and resolve common Consent Mode V2 issues.

Consent signals not updating

If consent choices do not update the consent state in Google tags, check the connection between your CMP and GTM. Verify that the CMP integration tag fires correctly and that the dataLayer push or API call properly updates all four consent signals. Use GTM preview mode to trace the consent state through each step of the user journey.

Tags firing before consent

If tags fire before users interact with the consent banner, your default consent state configuration may be incorrect. Ensure defaults are set to "denied" for all consent types and that the consent initialization tag fires before other tags. Check tag firing priorities and trigger conditions to ensure proper sequencing.

Conversion modeling not appearing

Conversion modeling requires sufficient data volume and time to calibrate. If you do not see modeled conversions after two weeks, verify that Advanced mode is properly configured with cookieless pings enabled. Also ensure you have enough baseline conversion volume for the model to work effectively. Low-volume accounts may see limited or no modeling.

Regional targeting issues

If consent defaults are not applying correctly by region, check your region detection method. GTM variables for geographic targeting or your CMP's built-in geo-detection should reliably identify EEA visitors. Test from VPN connections in different regions to verify correct behavior.

Integration with Google Analytics 4

Consent Mode V2 affects both Google Ads and Google Analytics 4, and proper integration ensures consistent measurement across both platforms. The analytics_storage consent signal controls GA4 cookie behavior, while the advertising signals affect how GA4 data can be shared with Google Ads for audience building and attribution.

When analytics_storage is denied, GA4 operates in cookieless mode, sending anonymized pageview and event pings that enable behavioral modeling without individual user tracking. This maintains aggregate analytics insights even for non-consenting users. When ad signals are denied, GA4 audiences cannot be shared with Google Ads, and cross-platform attribution is limited.

Configure GA4 and Google Ads consent settings consistently through GTM to ensure both platforms receive the same consent signals. Link your GA4 and Google Ads accounts to enable features like GA4 audience sharing and cross-platform conversion import, which work within the constraints of user consent. For detailed GA4 integration guidance, see our GA4 Integration Guide.

Future-Proofing Your Consent Implementation

Privacy regulations and technology solutions continue evolving. Building a flexible consent infrastructure positions your advertising operations for future changes without requiring complete reimplementation.

Emerging privacy technologies

Google's Privacy Sandbox initiatives including the Topics API and Attribution Reporting API will increasingly supplement or replace traditional tracking methods. Consent Mode V2 is designed to work alongside these technologies, using the same consent signals to determine what privacy-preserving features are available for each user.

Server-side tracking considerations

Server-side tagging through Google Tag Manager server containers provides additional privacy controls and data governance capabilities. Consent Mode V2 integrates with server-side implementations, with consent signals passing through to determine what data can be processed and forwarded. Consider server-side tracking as part of your long-term privacy-compliant measurement strategy.

First-party data strategies

As third-party cookies phase out and consent requirements tighten, first-party data becomes increasingly valuable. Build systems to collect, manage, and activate first-party data with appropriate consent. Enhanced conversions, Customer Match, and similar features leverage first-party data within consent constraints, providing measurement and targeting capabilities that do not depend on cookies.

Privacy-compliant advertising is not a limitation to work around but a foundation to build upon. Benly helps advertisers navigate this evolving landscape by monitoring consent implementation health, identifying measurement gaps, and surfacing optimization opportunities that work within privacy constraints. The advertisers who master privacy-first measurement today will outperform those still clinging to deprecated tracking methods.