Google Consent Mode v2 Configuration Guide with biskoui
Introduction
With biskoui, it's easy—we have implemented Google Consent Mode v2 in a way that makes your life easier. This guide explains how to enable Google Consent Mode v2 for our consent management platform in both managed and unmanaged modes.
Not using biskoui yet? Create a free account now and easily comply with Google Consent Mode v2.
What is Google Consent Mode v2?
Introduced in November 2023, Google Consent Mode v2 is a refined iteration of the initial consent mode created by Google. It improves the communication of user cookie preferences to Google tags on websites. Starting from March 2024, all websites using Google services must implement Google Consent Mode v2.
Integration Modes with biskoui
Biskoui supports two integration modes with Google Consent Mode v2: the biskoui integration which is fully managed by biskoui, and manual integration which allows you to manage the Google Consent Mode v2 lifecycle manually (typically via Google Tag Manager tags and templates).
We recommend enabling Google Consent Mode v2 via biskoui integration, and only resorting to manual integration if you need more advanced customization.
Basic Mode vs Advanced Mode: Detailed Comparison
Basic Mode
- No Google tags (Analytics, Ads, etc.) are triggered without consent
- User data is not collected before consent is given
- Implementation is simpler, but results in significant data loss if users refuse cookies
Advanced Mode
- Google tags are triggered as soon as the page loads, before consent
- If the user has not yet given consent, anonymous pings without cookies are sent to Google
- If consent is given, tags continue to function normally with complete data
- This allows Google to model conversions and better estimate performance even with a high refusal rate
Comparison Table: Basic Mode vs Advanced Mode
| Criteria | Basic Mode | Advanced Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Tag Triggering | Only after consent | Immediately, but in limited mode |
| Collection Without Consent | None | Anonymous pings |
| Technical Implementation | Simple (Very simple with biskoui CMP) | More technical via Consent Mode API (Very simple with biskoui CMP) |
| Conversion Modeling | Not available | Yes |
| nFADP Compliance | Very high | Compliant if properly configured |
| GDPR Compliance | Very high | Compliant if properly configured |
| Performance Impact | Data loss | Partial modeled data |
Why Choose One Over the Other?
Basic Mode: Recommended if your priority is compliance and you accept losing part of visitor data.
Advanced Mode: Advised if you want to optimize your advertising performance and maintain an estimate of your conversions, even without complete consent. However, be aware of the prerequisites.
When is Advanced Mode Really Useful?
The real advantage of Advanced Mode in Google Consent Mode v2 is that it allows Google to continue receiving anonymous signals even when users refuse cookies. These signals, called cookieless pings, are then used to feed statistical models capable of estimating missing conversions and behaviors. Through this modeling, Google can partially reconstruct advertising and analytics performance, offering advertisers a more complete view of their results.
However, for this modeling to be possible, it's essential to have a sufficient volume of conversions and consented data. According to Google, here are the data volume requirements to generate the model:
- The property must collect at least 1,000 events per day with
analytics_storage='denied'for at least seven days - The property has at least 1,000 daily users sending events with
analytics_storage='granted'for at least 7 of the last 28 days - It may take more than 7 days of meeting this data threshold over this 28-day period for the model to be properly trained; however, it's possible that even additional data may not be sufficient for Analytics to train the model
biskoui Integration vs Manual Integration
biskoui Integration
Biskoui manages consent automatically, initializing consents to deny all. Consent is automatically granted for specific services (e.g., Google Analytics and Google Ads) at the time of acceptance.
Advantage: Simplified consent management.
Manual Integration
As a web developer, you manually configure consent management outside of biskoui.
Advantage: Allows for more advanced customization.
Disadvantages: Increased complexity, more manual configuration required.
How to Set Up biskoui Integration
- Log in to your biskoui account
- Select the domain for which you want to enable Managed Mode
- Go to the "Services" tab
- Ensure that at least one Google service (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Conversion Linker) is configured
- Check the box "Enable Google Consent Mode managed automatically by biskoui"
When the Google Consent Mode v2 option is enabled, our biskoui banner will automatically manage the consent lifecycle according to Google's API. It will activate certain consents based on user choices. By default, everything will be set to "denied," then certain consents will be "granted." For example, Google Analytics will activate consent for analytics_storage, and Google Ads or Conversion Linker will activate consents for ad_storage, ad_user_data, and ad_personalization.
By default, Google Consent Mode v2 is configured in Basic Mode. It is also possible to configure it in Advanced Mode.
If you want to use Google Consent Mode v2's Advanced Mode, you must use biskoui's integration with Google Tag Manager (GTM) to trigger your tags. See our guide for configuring services via Google Tag Manager.
How to Use Advanced Mode with Google Tag Manager
In the Advanced version of Google Consent Mode, we will launch tags that are "consent-aware" (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Conversion Linker) from page initialization and not at the time of user consent. This will allow collecting anonymous information from the start, and more precise information after the user has given consent.
- In the Google Tag Manager (GTM) dashboard, add a trigger with the custom event "biskoui_ready". This event is triggered by biskoui once it has fully loaded and initialized Google Consent Mode v2.
- For each "consent-aware" tag (Google Tags), set the trigger as the new custom event you defined in step 1 ("biskoui_ready"). This will launch the scripts as soon as biskoui has finished initializing the default consent but before the user has given their consent.
Troubleshooting
There are some common problems when testing Google Consent Mode v2, make sure to read this section if you have issues.
- Ensure that the biskoui tag is launched before any other tag requiring Google Consent Mode v2. The biskoui tag will initialize consent mode, and if other consent-dependent tags are launched in parallel, Google Consent Mode will behave poorly.
- Google Consent Mode v2 is currently only integrated with Google services (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Conversion Linker). If you have a custom script that takes consent into account, you will need to use Unmanaged Mode to control when consent is triggered.
- In Google Consent Mode v2 advanced mode, it is important to load Google scripts only on the "biskoui_ready" trigger and not on the "All pages" trigger in GTM, otherwise there is a risk that these scripts will execute before biskoui has fully initialized consent mode.
- Make sure you don't have other scripts that initialize consent twice. With Biskoui managed mode, Biskoui automatically manages Consent Mode initialization with Google's API, so you should not add custom code in your HTML header. Pay close attention to advice you find online as many other CMPs require the user to add the initialization code themselves, which is not the case with Biskoui!
How to Set Up Manual Integration
By default, biskoui is configured for manual integration—no action is required in the biskoui admin console to enable manual integration. However, make sure that the box "Enable Google Consent Mode managed automatically by biskoui" is disabled in the "Services" tab.
In manual integration, you decide how to integrate Google Consent Mode v2 yourself. Biskoui will not interact with the Google Consent Mode v2 API; instead, you will need to initialize consent at the right time and trigger consents during certain biskoui events. This integration requires writing JavaScript code. We recommend following Google's official documentation. The basic steps to follow are:
- Initialize all consents to be denied. This can be done either with a script in your HTML header or with the "Consent Initialization – All Pages" trigger in Google Tag Manager (GTM).
- Launch all Google tags on the "All Pages" trigger, or add them manually in your HTML header after consent initialization (it is very important to initialize consent first and only load these scripts afterward).
- You can use biskoui Google Tag Manager (GTM) triggers to add custom scripts to grant consents when the user accepts a specific service. You can also host your script directly on biskoui in the corresponding services (instead of hosting the service script).