What Is Consent Mode v2?
Consent Mode v2 is Google's API for passing a user's consent choices (ads storage, analytics storage, ad user data, ad personalization) to Google tags. It lets Google model conversions and reach when users decline cookies, without violating consent, and is required for EEA and UK ad measurement since March 2024.
Consent Mode v2 in a real EEA account
A Shopify brand runs Meta and Google Ads across Germany. Before Consent Mode v2 the CMP blocked all Google tags on refusal, so 38 percent of conversions never reported. After Advanced Consent Mode v2, denied users still send cookieless pings; Google models the missing conversions and Ads keeps optimising. Reported conversions recover by 20 to 35 percent within two weeks and Ads keeps serving personalised traffic in the region.
Benchmarks
- Basic Consent Mode: tags blocked on refusal; no modelled conversions. Cheap to install, weak signal.
- Advanced Consent Mode: cookieless pings on refusal; 15 to 40 percent conversion recovery.
- Required signals in v2: ad_user_data and ad_personalization (added to v1's ad_storage and analytics_storage).
Why it matters
Without Consent Mode v2 in the EEA/UK, Google Ads throttles personalised ads, remarketing lists shrink, and Enhanced Conversions cannot fire. It is the compliance layer that keeps modern Google Ads working under GDPR, not a nice-to-have.
Common mistakes
- 1.Installing v1 and thinking v2 is optional in the EEA. It is not; Google enforces since March 2024.
- 2.Setting default consent to 'granted'. That is a GDPR violation, not a growth hack.
- 3.Skipping ad_user_data and ad_personalization signals. Personalised remarketing stops.
- 4.Deploying without CMP integration. Consent state never updates.
Put Consent Mode v2 to work
Free calculators
Related services
FAQs about Consent Mode v2
Do I need Consent Mode v2 outside the EEA?
Not legally required, but Google recommends it globally so signals stay consistent as more regions add consent laws (UK, Brazil, several US states). Deploying once beats retrofitting later.
Basic or Advanced Consent Mode?
Advanced almost always. Basic is simpler to install but loses the modelled conversions that make v2 worth deploying in the first place.
Related terms
Tag deployment container for firing pixels without code edits.
Event-based, cross-platform analytics that replaced Universal Analytics.
Google's hashed first-party data sent server-side to recover lost matches.
Server-side event stream from your site/CRM to Meta or Google.
Customer data you collected yourself with consent; the strongest signal.
Apple's App Tracking Transparency; broke cross-app deterministic tracking.
Server-side event stream that sends conversions to Meta directly, bypassing browser-side cookie loss.
Estimated conversions Google or Meta report when direct measurement is blocked by consent or ITP.