Consent mode has become more important since June 15. The opportunity to work on the Google Ads banner.
Until now, you had to configure two settings to collect advertising data about visitors. The one called Google Signals, located in GA4, allowed the collection of cookies and advertising identifiers. Consent mode in Google Ads was done via the cookie banner. This could create confusion and risks of GDPR non-compliance.
After June 15, the Google Ads Consent mode becomes the sole decision-maker for the collection of advertising data. If a visitor refuses advertising cookies in the consent banner, no advertising data will be collected. No matter what the Google Signals setting in Analytics says.
Google Signals, for its part, is not disappearing. But its role is now limited to linking Analytics data to the profiles of users connected to a Google account. This is only done for behavioral reports. For example, to know “how many times has the same user visited my site this week?”
“By removing Google Signals from its role as an advertising filter to centralize everything under the governance of Consent Mode, Google is requiring advertisers to strengthen the quality of signals,” confirms Nelly LargillièreGoogle Ads specialist. “And ultimately this is nothing new, Google remains consistent.” With this action, the American giant seems to want to stop “blind tracking.” It asks for clear consent. “The quality of advertising activation data will therefore depend entirely on the consent granted by the user and the quality of the implementation of Google Consent Mode”, launches Olivier LivesAnalytics expert at Resoneo.
Missing data
For Benoit WadeleuxMedia Manager at Vanksen, this new feature has certain limitations. When a user refuses cookies, Google cannot track it directly. The Mountain View firm then “guesses” its conversions by statistical modeling. It relies on similar users who have agreed. The problem lies in Europe, where refusals are in the majority. The modeling therefore rests on a fragile basis. “It plugs the holes. But its precision drops when the refusal increases,” breathes Benoit Wadeleux.
Also, if the user refuses consent, there is only one signal left: the gclid. This raw identifier is added to the URL when someone clicks on an ad. It only indicates that a click has taken place. “The system is binary: ad_storage granted, Google mobilizes everything, including connected identity. Refused, all that remains is the gclid in the URL. Between the two, nothing,” laments Benoit Wadeleux. “We can add the latency of diagnoses,” continues Benoit Wadeleux.
Working on the consent we obtain and the consent we transmit
In this state of affairs, two actions now count for advertisers. First, work on the quality of the cookie banner. The issue is UX and legal. “We need to look at how we collect data. Both to remain compliant and to optimize our advertising spending,” says Nelly Largillière. For Benoit Wadeleux, “not neglecting the banner is important. Each opt-in point earned is real rather than reconstructed data.”
Among the questions to ask for advertisers, we find this: how to present the choices in a clear, honest and GDPR-compliant manner so that the user accepts or refuses knowingly?
It is also about ensuring that the data actually reaches Google, in the form of an ad_storage signal. “An impeccable banner placed on a poorly wired Consent Mode, and the data is lost along the way,” warns Benoit Wadeleux. “We’ve already seen it at home: accounts losing part of their conversions overnight.” “There are still Google Consent Mode “showcases” which do not block or transmit any real consent in the background,” sighs Nelly Largillière. For these advertisers, for whom Consent Mode is not active, this news reminds them to quickly comply.
For links between tools, “you just need to ensure that the GA4 property is associated with Google Ads. And that ad personalization, with “link-level personalization”, is activated,” points out Olivier Vit. According to him, in order to guarantee the correct reporting of Google Ads campaign data in GA4, it remains necessary to set up UTMs on all destination URLs for Google Ads campaigns. Users remain free to refuse the interconnection of Google services.
Olivier Vit also advises making Consent Mode v2 more reliable, in advanced mode, to keep the modeling. And make sure that the signals really go out, at the right time. “We can also strengthen proprietary data, which does not depend on third-party cookies. I am thinking of Enhanced Conversions, Customer Match via the Data Manager API, server-side.”
Let’s not forget that unknowns remain: Google is preparing similar changes to personalization and IP addresses. New challenges ahead.
