Here’s why you need Advanced Google Consent Mode V2, now!
The internet has changed the world, it’s even made cookies boring. However, complying with regulations and collecting as much accurate data as possible is vital to online success for any business. Google routinely tightens their own rules on cookie consent regulations, and we strongly recommend ensuring your business ticks all the boxes.
What are cookies?
Cookies are text files and small pieces of data that are used to identify your computer. The server stores your data in a cookie. You’ll be benefiting from this every day as a consumer; from login and preference storage, to language preferences and personalised adverts. There are two main types of cookie; first-party and third-party. First-party cookies are stored directly on the website that is visited, these first-party cookies enable things like password storage and a basket on a website remembering all the items you added to it. Alternatively, third-party cookies are created by domains that are separate form the website you are visiting. These will be placed on a site through a script or tag, and they allow your web browser to serve more targeted ads to you. The main difference between first-party and third-party here is that the third-party cookies connect activity across different websites, allowing advertisers to target people who might not be actively searching for their products.
The big news is that Google is phasing out third-party cookies, in a move they are calling their Privacy Sandbox. Quite simply, this has a seismic impact on digital marketing, as it will heavily reduce cross-site advertising. Currently, we are able to use third-party cookie data to build robust visitor profiles, including data on other sites our visitors have visited, their purchases and even their interests. This abundance of data can be used to create a retargeting list, or to target lookalike audiences by finding other internet users with similar web profiles.
However as a website owner, tracking and advertising remain vital. The first step we recommend is using a Consent Management Platform (CMP); this will offer users the chance to control how they interact with cookies on your site. At Verve, we use Cookie Pro and this is something we can set up for you. The CMP will automate the process of classifying your cookies. Choosing the right consent modes is absolutely vital in the face of all this change, as whilst you still need to comply with current third-party regulations, you also need to leverage first-party data as effectively as possible.
So, what is Google Consent Mode V2?
Google Consent Mode V2 strikes a balance between allowing a business to collect vital data, and respecting a visitors right to data privacy. It was made to help with the 70% of website users who take steps to limit cookies. Instead of simply forgetting about these users and thus losing their data insights, it fills in gaps using data modelling. Google Consent Mode V2 has been introduced to comply with new European privacy legislation. This is now mandatory within the European Economic Area (EEA) and UK from March 2024. If you are not already using Google Consent Mode V2, we recommend implementing a CMP and switching to it as soon as possible, as not doing so could lead to huge implications, including Google Ads no longer running.
There are two versions, basic or advanced, and we strongly recommend the latter.
Why Is Advanced Consent mode V2 recommended?
If a user accepts cookies there is currently no difference between basic and advanced consent modes, but, only 40% of users do. 60% of your data is a big pool of insights, and you need to access as much of it as possible.
Basic Consent mode V2 will only collect data collection after a user grants implicit consent. If they do not consent, no user data is collected at all and basic data modelling has to fill in the gaps. As third-party cookies are phased out, this limited modelling will become increasingly problematic for your data analysis.
Advanced Consent Mode V2 is more complicated, but much more beneficial to a business. This will load Google tags before the consent banner appears. In this case if a user rejects then non-personal data is still collected and thus more advanced data modelling can be used, including behavioural modelling for GA4. This means your paid advertising campaigns will have more data to work from, and you’ll also be able to track their performance more accurately.
Advanced mode is still compliant with data laws because of cookieless pings; Google’s method of collecting and sending information about non-consented users. These only contain non-identifiable data about website visitors, such as country, timestamps, referring websites and conversion types. This additional data empowers advanced mode to offer better and more accurate data modeling than basic, whilst still remaining compliant with all privacy regulations.
As mentioned before, third-party cookies are being phased out, and this makes the advanced data modelling being fed into GA4 and your Google Ads accounts pivotal.
The benefits of Advanced Consent mode V2:
- Better data: visitors non-identifiably tracked before they accept or reject cookies.
- Empowered data modelling: your Ga4 and google Ads accounts will have improved data thanks to modelling benefits, and you will also gain from behavioural modelling in GA4. This helps massively with paid advertising audiences and targeting.
- Full compliance with privacy regulations. In advanced mode you are still fully compliant with the latest regulations.
- Performance Max: if you are using AI-learning based campaigns like performance max in Google Ads, then more data results in more learning. The more you feed the algorithm, the more it will deliver for your business.
We have experience of implementing Advanced Consent Mode V2 on a range of websites and our initial data is positive. We are now recommending it to all clients and can help install it on your website. If you want to find out what you are using, or upgrade to advanced mode, then get in touch with us by emailing info@verve-design.co.uk