01 Mar Is your business ready for Consent Mode V2? What is it? and why does not being compliant affect your Google Ads Performance?
OK – so that’s a big title which probably means nothing to you right now, Let me explain in simpler terms.
For the last 30 years in marketing, we have been used to getting a lot of data. It’s pivotal for the success of any campaign. Whether we are working with Google Ads, Facebook Ads or just your website, you will have been relying on third-party cookie tracking.
Third Party Cookies have been used for years to track user behaviour between websites and between platforms. It’s enabled us to get a picture of users across the wider internet, For marketers, we’ve been riding high on utilising this data for targeting. But, things are changing, Google has been trying to depreciate the use of third-party cookies for years. But after several delays, they are finally hoping to completely stop using Third-Party Cookies by the end of 2024. This year, during Q1 already, Google has started removing the use of third-party cookies to 1% of its users. By the end of this year, this will be rolled out to all users of Chrome.
Removing the use of third-party cookies by Google isn’t something new, and browsers like Firefox and Safari have been doing this already for several years.
What about First Party data?
Third-party data tracks users across various websites and platforms. Whereas First-party data is looking at just your data and the information from the users that are on your website, First Party cookie tracking is not going anywhere. Although we can still track via First-Party cookies, the permissions for collecting this data are slightly changing.
We’ve all been used to seeing cookie acceptance pop-ups on websites given the website permission to track your user behaviour. These pop-up banners are asking for permission from the user to send their data back to Analytics and Ads. This historical consent mode would capture the user’s consent in two tags.
- Analytics_Storage
- Ads_Storage
In November 2023, Google launched ‘Consent Mode V2’. Very similar to the previous version but this time adding two new tags for tracking user data and personalisation data. These two new tags permit to either collect full or anonymous data. When conversion data is anonymous it might not sound that useful, but with the latest conversion modelling, Google can still use the collected data and a heavy dose of AI to model the data and fill in the gaps.
The two new consent tracking tags in consent mode V2 are
- Ad_user_data
- Ad_personalisation
Why Should I Care?
This is all VERY confusing, I hear you say, Why should I even care? Well, that is a very good question.
Although this all sounds a bit boring, these changes are all to benefit users and give users control and understanding on what data is being collected and permits them to opt-out should they wish. It’s giving users control of their data but it’s also enabling businesses to be compliant with regional laws. GDPR for example.
If you run advertising on Google, you rely heavily on this collected data. If you use Google Analytics, you’re again using this collected data. The more quality data you get, the better quality advertising you can put out. The new ‘ad_personalisation’ tag is specifically related to whether the user accepts permission for their data to be collected to enable remarketing. This is huge for advertisers to make sure you have access to this data. It can make your PPC campaigns more successful when they are data-driven, without the data you will be at a disadvantage to the competition and running advertising blind.
How does Consent Mode V2 work?
Consent Mode V2 doesn’t need to be confusing. If you are already collecting consent with a cookie pop-up banner you are already halfway there. Instead of the user accepting 2 basic tags, the user would accept 4 tags. It’s really that simple! Google will observe this data as normal and feed the data back to Ads and Analytics platforms. If the user accepts the tracking, you will get 100% accurate data. If they deny the tracking you will get limited data. As an advertiser, you can not make informed data-driven decisions with limited data. As well as the legal ramifications of not being compliant with regional laws, you run the risk as an advertiser of losing data in your audience lists as well as the ability to remarket to those users. If your data quality collected goes down, the efficiency of your ads is likely to follow. Going forward, Google will gather the data from those that do allow consent. Then it uses AI to model and predict the conversion data for those that haven’t consented. This ‘modelled’ data is better than nothing, but it is a prediction, a guestimation a… made-up,,.. figure?!?!?! You see why it is important to get as much accurate real data as possible and not modelled data.
Instead of tracking users via Cookies and getting personal data. We will now get data in topics. You’ll need to switch your thinking of your users grouped by similar topics and themes rather than user by user. With Google looking to depreciate third-party cookies by the end of Q3, now is the time to start thinking about enabling Consent Mode V2 and avoid any loss in vital data as the way we advertise with data is changing significantly.
How do I become compliant?
Now that I’ve shown you how we used to track with third-party cookies. How we are going forward into a world with very different data to what we have been used to, it is vital to retain as much user data as possible to avoid any declines within your PPC advertising and data collection.
Google has made it easy to become compliant. Google has partnered with several providers that offer a fully compliant popup banner that works with Consent Mode V2. You can find their list of suppliers here – https://cmppartnerprogram.withgoogle.com/#partners
What’s even better, is that within Google Analytics, there is a new section to check whether you are compliant.
Head over to Google Analytics > Admin > Data Collection & Modification > Data Streams and you’ll see a new section for > Consent Settings. Here you can check whether you are compliant or not.
If not, signing up for one of the above-listed services can be quick and easy and get your website ready for the changes that are coming to data collection.
Avoid losing your data and any declines in your PPC advertising by making sure your website is Consent Mode V2 compliant today.
