Google Consent Mode v2 for UK and EU stores, explained simply
If you sell to the UK or EU and run Google tags, Consent Mode v2 sits between your cookie banner and your tracking, and decides what runs. Get it right and you stay compliant while still measuring most of your data. Get it wrong and you either lose a big slice of conversions or fall out of compliance. Here is the plain-English version.
What Consent Mode actually does
Consent Mode passes the visitor's choices from your cookie banner to Google's tags as signals. Instead of a blunt on or off, the tags adjust their behaviour based on whether the visitor granted analytics and advertising consent. When consent is denied, Google can still use privacy-safe modelling to recover some of the lost measurement, rather than simply seeing nothing.
Why v2 matters
Version 2 added two advertising signals that Google now requires for features like remarketing and audiences to keep working for UK and EU users. Without v2 wired up, those features degrade and you lose both compliance cover and measurement.
The two ways it goes wrong
1. The banner does not actually control the tags
A banner that looks compliant but does not pass real signals to your tags leaves you exposed. The tags fire regardless of what the visitor chose, which is the opposite of consent.
2. Tags are blocked outright instead of modelled
The other extreme: on decline, tags are killed entirely with no consent mode in place, so every visitor who ignores or declines the banner disappears from your data. On EU and UK traffic that can be a large share of your measured conversions gone.
Check whether your banner really controls your tags
Our free consent check shows whether your tags respect consent or fire regardless. Drop in your URL, no signup.
Check my tracking freeWhat a correct setup looks like
A proper setup has your consent banner passing granular signals to Consent Mode v2, tags that adjust rather than simply switch off, and modelling enabled so declined visitors are still partly measured within the rules. You stay compliant and keep the maximum measurable data the law allows, instead of trading one for the other.
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Common questions
Do I legally need Consent Mode?
You need a compliant consent approach for UK and EU visitors, and Consent Mode v2 is Google's mechanism for keeping Google tags compliant while preserving measurement. It also keeps advertising features like remarketing working for those users.
Does Consent Mode reduce my data?
Compared with firing everything regardless, yes, but that is the point of compliance. Compared with blocking tags outright on decline, Consent Mode with modelling recovers a meaningful share of the data you would otherwise lose.
Is a cookie banner enough on its own?
No. Many banners look compliant but do not actually pass consent signals to your tags, or they block tags entirely. The banner has to be wired to Consent Mode for it to do its job.