Google’s new Consent Mode is an updated feature designed to better align with recent privacy laws. It is a solution that allows merchants or online store owners to adjust the behavior of their Google tags based on the consent status of their store visitors/users. It helps them to measure conversions and visitor behavior while respecting user privacy and complying with data protection regulations.

If a user agrees (gives consent) to be tracked for advertising or analytics purposes, Google services like Google Ads and Google Analytics will work as usual, collecting data for personalized experiences and insights. If a user denies (does not give consent), data collection is limited to what’s strictly necessary, respecting their privacy or the tracking tag won’t be fired at all.

Why and Where is Google Consent Mode Needed?

Google Consent Mode is needed for merchants that operate in regions where data protection laws require user consent for data collection and processing, such as the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK). Suppose you use Google tags, such as Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Ads, or Floodlight, to track and optimize your Google Shopping campaigns. In that case, you need to implement Google Consent Mode to ensure that your data collection and advertising activities are compliant with the user consent.

Difference between Basic and Advanced Consent Mode

• Advanced Consent Mode (Recommended): When you implement consent mode in its advanced version, Google tags load when a user opens the website. The tags load the consent mode API and do the following:
  
  
• Set default consent states. By default, consent may be denied. While consent is denied, the Google tags still send data, but with cookieless pings.
  
  
• Wait for user interaction with the banner and update consent states. Only when a user grants consent (Accepts/Agrees) to data collection, Google tags send the full measurement data.

• Basic Consent Mode: When you implement consent mode in its basic version, you prevent Google tags from loading until a user interacts with a consent banner. This setup transmits no data to Google before user interaction with the consent banner. When the user grants consent, Google tags load and execute the consent mode APIs. 
  

How does Google Advanced Consent Mode (V2) work?

Google Consent Mode V2 works by setting four new parameters, ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data, and ad_personalization. These parameters indicate the user’s consent status for sending user data and personalized advertising to Google. Based on these parameters, Google tags will operate in one of the following modes:

• Full mode: If the user grants consent for all parameters, the Google tags will operate normally and collect and process user data and personalized advertising as usual.

• Restricted mode: If the user denies consent for any parameter, the Google tags will operate in a restricted mode and limit the data collection and processing to protect user privacy. The Google tags will use random, ephemeral identifiers instead of cookies and will not access any browser storage. The restricted data will not surface in Google reports directly but will be used by Google to model conversions and visitor behavior.

• Disabled mode: If the user denies consent for all parameters, the Google tags will be disabled and will not collect or process any data.

Implementing the Advanced Consent Mode from the Simprosys Google Shopping Feed

Before you start with the consent mode implementation process from our app, make sure your online store complies with the data protection regulations like GDPR, applicable in your region for tracking your customer’s details.

Now, after you have enabled the cookie consent banner on your Shopify store, using the native Shopify Admin option or using any third-party privacy apps, you can proceed to enable the consent mode from our app.

Click on this link to find the option for the consent mode activation from our app.

Now, the first step would be to enable the consent mode option. Please note that by keeping this disabled, tracking tags will collect sensitive data from your store visitors regardless of their consent choices, such as Visitors from the EEA or UK. It may violate your privacy policies and settings.

Once you have enabled consent mode from our app, the next step would be to choose the type of consent mode that you wish to enable. [Basic or Advanced]

After selecting the consent mode type, select the option where you display the cookie banner on your store. It could be globally or for specific regions only. It’s recommended that you select the specific regions where the laws are applicable. Note that multiple selection options are also available in case you are displaying the cookie consent banner for multiple locations under various regulations.

We have also added the option to enable/disable the passing of ad information in the website URL.

When a shopper lands on your website after clicking an ad, information about the ad may be appended to your landing page URL as a query parameter. Normally, this data is saved in cookies to track conversions But, if ad_storage is denied, this data isn’t stored. 

To maintain ad click tracking quality without local storage, use URL passthrough to carry the ad click details across pages. Likewise, if analytics_storage is denied, the URL passthrough would help to transmit analytics data, including conversions, without relying on cookies.

It is important to note that our app does not provide the feature to implement the Cookie Consent Banner on your online store. It is the responsibility of the store owner/manager to enable it either through the Customer Privacy Settings in your Shopify store admin (as shown below) or by using third-party privacy apps.

Steps to enable the Cookie Banner from your Shopify store admin:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. Click the Cookie banner.
3. In the Region visibility section, click the Activate cookie banner.
4. Select the regions where you want the cookie banner to display, and then click Activate.
5. In the Appearance section, click Customize.
6. Make required changes to the colors, cookie banner, or preferences, and click Save.
7. In the Position section, choose how you want the cookie banner to be positioned.
8. Click View to preview how the cookie banner displays in your online store (optional).

Additionally, our app also has the option to fully redact the ad information when the users deny their consent. When ad_storage is denied, new cookies will not be sent for advertising purposes. Additionally, third-party cookies previously set on google.com and doubleclick.net will not be used except for spam and fraud purposes. Data sent to Google will still include the full page URL, including any ad click information in the URL parameters.

To enable/disable this, simply select the required option as shown in the screenshot below.

After all the required options are selected, you may click on the Save Settings button and you are good to go.

Some key points to remember

• When you enable the consent mode from our app, make sure that it is not implemented from other sources, like any third-party app that is consent-mode compliant, or by placing manual scripts in your Shopify store.
  
  
• Collecting, sharing, or selling data without consent might not comply with applicable laws. Consult legal counsel to discuss the requirements that apply to your business.

• Simprosys is not authorized to offer legal advice on regulatory compliance. We advise you to evaluate consent obligations independently.
  
  
• The consent mode option enabled from our app is currently applicable for Google Tags only (Google ads, Google Analytics or Floodlights). We are gradually implementing it for other platforms also like Facebook, Microsoft, and Pinterest. For now, you can use our GDPR Compliance Settings for the Customer Privacy feature to limit Data collection until a customer gives consent.
  

For any further information, please feel free to contact us at support@simprosys.com