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Google's banner requirements for Consent Mode

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If your site uses Google tags, such as Google Analytics, Google Ads or Tag Manager, and shows a consent banner to visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, Google's EU user consent policy sets out what that banner tells visitors. This article lists what Google asks for and shows how to set up a Kukie.io banner that has it, with the screens and labels in your dashboard.

It describes Google's requirements, not what any law requires of your site. It is information, not legal advice.

What Google asks for

Google's EU user consent policy asks you to get visitors' consent and to tell them how their data is used, including by Google. Its help page lists what the consent notice needs. For a consent banner used with Google Consent Mode, that comes down to three things in the banner itself:

  1. A statement about ads personalisation. The first layer of the banner says that visitors' data is collected and used to personalise ads. Google's checklist calls this "ads personalization".
  2. A link to Google's privacy page, https://business.safety.google/privacy/, which explains how Google uses data from sites that use its services.
  3. An affirmative option: a button such as Accept all that the visitor selects to give consent.

Google's help page also accepts the link inside a privacy policy that the banner's first layer links to. Kukie.io puts it in the banner itself, so a visitor reaches it in one step.

Google also expects a consent management platform to let you set all of this up from its own screens, and to recommend the text when you turn on Consent Mode. In Kukie.io, the Add site form and the Banner Editor do both, as described below.

Start a new site with Google's banner text

  1. In the dashboard, open Sites and select Add site.
  2. Enter your domain in the Domain field.
  3. Leave Google Consent Mode v2 turned on. It is on by default.
  4. Select Create Site.

The new site starts with Google Consent Mode on and Google's banner text in every language of its banner, with the Reject All, Customise and Accept All buttons turned on. Copy the embed code on the next page and add it to your site.

If you turn the switch off, the site starts with the standard banner text and sends no Consent Mode signals. You can add Google's banner text later, as the next section describes. If your plan does not include Google Consent Mode, the form does not show the switch.

Add Google's banner text to an existing site

  1. Open the site's Banner Editor and go to the Integrations tab.
  2. In the Google Consent Mode v2 card, turn on Enable GCM v2.
  3. The card shows the recommendation Google recommends banner text for Consent Mode. Select Apply Google's banner text. If you have unsaved changes in the editor, they are saved first.

If the card shows Show Google's banner recommendation instead, the recommendation was dismissed for this site: select it to bring the recommendation back. If the card already shows a green notice, the text is applied. An amber warning means it was applied and then changed: see If the text goes missing.

Kukie.io saves the change and rebuilds your banner. The card then shows a green notice: "Google's banner text is in every language of your banner, with Accept all."

What Apply changes

  • It replaces the Description of every language in the Texts tab with Google's banner text. A description you wrote yourself is replaced.
  • It turns on Google Consent Mode v2.
  • It turns on the "Reject All" button and the "Customise" button (Design tab, Button Visibility).
  • It turns on Accept All in every region rule (Regions tab).

This is the English text it writes:

We use cookies and similar technologies for analytics, ads personalisation, and to improve your experience. Some cookies are necessary for the site to function. Others help us understand how you use the site, serve relevant advertising, and remember your preferences. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to the use of all cookies. You can customise your choices at any time. Learn how Google uses your data.

Google's banner text ends with the link "Learn how Google uses your data", which opens https://business.safety.google/privacy/ in a new tab. The link is part of the banner description, so it sits inside the banner's first layer, next to the buttons, and not only in your privacy policy or in the preferences modal. The Banner Editor preview shows it.

Languages

  • Google's banner text is translated into 8 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese.
  • Every other language shows the English text until you translate it. In the Texts tab, open the language and edit its Description. Keep the link to https://business.safety.google/privacy/ in your translation. Before you apply the text, the recommendation lists the languages that will show it in English.
  • Languages without a description of their own get the text automatically: the languages Auto-Translation shows, the default language and any language you add later.

If the text goes missing

Kukie.io checks your banner each time you open the Banner Editor. If you edit a description or hide Accept all after applying the text, the card shows "Your banner no longer has all of Google's banner text" and lists what is missing:

  • languages with no link to Google's privacy page
  • languages with no sentence about ads personalisation (checked only in the 8 translated languages, because the check cannot read a translation you wrote yourself)
  • regions where Accept all is hidden

Select Re-apply Google's banner text to put it back. Re-applying replaces the description in every language again and turns Accept all back on.

Use your own text instead

You can write your own description in the Texts tab. To give visitors what Google asks for, it needs the sentence about ads personalisation and the link to Google's privacy page in every language, and every region that shows the banner needs Accept all. If you do not want the recommendation on the card, select Dismiss. It stays dismissed for this site, and Show Google's banner recommendation brings it back.

Check it yourself

  1. Open your site in a private browser window. Your usual browser can keep the previous version of the banner for up to 24 hours.
  2. Check that the banner appears. A region rule with the Hidden consent model shows no banner, so test from a region that shows one, or use the Banner Editor preview.
  3. Find "Learn how Google uses your data" in the banner text and select it. Google's privacy page opens in a new tab.
  4. Select Accept all. In Google Tag Assistant, a consent update with granted values appears. To see the same signals in your browser console, use Consent Mode debug mode.

The banner and Consent Mode do different jobs. The banner asks visitors for their choice. Consent Mode passes that choice to Google tags, which then adjust what they collect. Google's banner text belongs with Consent Mode, which is why applying it turns Consent Mode on. See Google Consent Mode v2 for the signals the banner sends, and Google Consent Mode v2: basic vs advanced for when Google tags load.

Beyond the banner

Google's policy also covers your site's other disclosures. These are your own documents, so Kukie.io cannot write them for you, but it can help:

  • A reject option and choices by category. Visitors can refuse with Reject all and choose by category with Customise. On every region rule with the Opt-in consent model, Kukie.io gives Reject all the same accent colour as Accept all, so the two buttons have equal visual weight.
  • The parties that receive data. Name Google, and any other advertising company on your site, in your privacy or cookie policy. A cookie scan lists the third-party cookies and services Kukie.io finds on your pages.
  • Google in your privacy policy. Describe the Google services you use and what they collect. Link to Google's privacy page and, if you use Google Ads, to Google's list of ad technology providers. Kukie.io's legal document generator can start a cookie policy from your scan results.
  • Other tags. Consent Mode reaches Google tags only. Tags from other companies, such as a Meta Pixel, need blocking until consent: use Auto-block Scripts or data-cc-category attributes.

Where the banner appears

Google's policy concerns visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland. Region rules decide what each region sees: open Banner Editor and go to the Regions tab. Each rule has its own consent model, buttons and consent duration. A common setup is Opt-in for the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, and a different model for other regions. In regions whose rule is Opt-out, Notice Only or Hidden, Kukie.io tells Google tags that consent is granted by default, as Google Consent Mode v2 describes.

Common mistakes

  • Vague text. "We use cookies to improve your experience" does not say that data is used for ads personalisation.
  • No link to Google's privacy page, or a link that only appears several pages into your privacy policy.
  • Accept all hidden in a region rule after the text was applied. The Integrations card warns about it.
  • Consent Mode turned off. Without it, Google tags get no consent signal from your banner, whatever the banner says.
  • Other companies' tags left running. Consent Mode does not block them.

Help with Consent Mode

If Google tags are not getting Consent Mode signals, or you run into another Consent Mode setup, timing or measurement problem, email Kukie.io's Google client support at google-support@kukie.io first, before you contact Google. We answer within 1 business day.

To copy Google's Consent Mode support team, add cmp-support-helper@google.com to your email, or choose the Google Consent Mode topic in the contact form and select the box.

Google's documentation

Previous

Google Tag Gateway (GTG) integration
Next

Auto-block scripts with Google Consent Mode v2

Follow this guide in your own account

Create a free account to follow this guide: add your site, scan it for cookies and publish your consent banner.

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