Google Consent Mode v2 for Magento 2 Explained

Google Consent Mode v2 is a critical update by Google designed to align with stricter privacy norms, especially within the European Economic Area (EEA). If you haven’t implemented the new Consent Mode by March 2024, you’re breaching Google’s requirements and compromising the functionality of your Google services such as Google Analytics, Ads, Conversion Linker, and Floodlight. 

This may result in:

• Limited Data Capture – Without Consent Mode v2, data capture for new EEA users is significantly limited, impacting the accuracy of your advertising platforms.
• Ineffective Budget Spending – Inaccurate and incomplete data may lead to less effective spending as bidding algorithms run on incomplete information. 

But why is v2 so special? How is it different and what changes will it bring to your Magento store? Let’s take a look.

What’s New in Google Consent Mode v2?

Consent Mode v2 is an advanced version of its predecessor and is specifically designed to meet today’s demands for user privacy. It aligns with stricter privacy norms and legal e-commerce requirements, particularly GDPR within the EEA. 

Unlike the previous version, Consent Mode v2 requires explicit user consent for personalized ads and analytics. This is implemented via the following newly introduced consent types: ad_user_data and ad_personalization.

The mechanism behind collecting these consent types involves the integration of consent management solutions similar to Amasty’s Cookie Consent extension for Magento 2. As users start interacting with a Magento store, the solution presents a cookie bar, enabling visitors to explicitly grant or deny consent. The decision is then communicated to Google Consent Mode v2, determining whether personal data should be used for ads and analytics purposes or not.

How You Benefit with Google Consent Mode v2 

While remaining a valid personal choice, cookie opt-out is a big challenge for marketers and advertising experts. Without user consent, data capture is limited, which creates gaps in analytics and obscures the "full picture" of a campaign's performance. Google Consent Mode v2, however, helps you to fill in the blanks while respecting user privacy choices.

Whenever users reject cookies, Google Consent Mode v2 employs the Conversion Modeling approach. Individual data from non-consenting users is unavailable, but high-level data that offers valuable insights into campaign performance and user behavior trends is still aggregated. This helps recover a significant portion of conversion paths from ad clicks that might otherwise be lost.

What’s more, Conversion Modeling utilizes AI-driven methods to bridge the gaps in analytics. It compares observable data and historical trends from consenting users against the limited data from non-consenting users. Then, Conversion Modeling estimates and predicts the behavior of non-consenting users. While certainly not 100% accurate, such an approach can enhance conversion data analysis.   

Google Consent Mode for Magento 2 with Amasty Extensions

Implementing and fully leveraging the benefits of Google Consent Mode v2 on your Magento store is extremely simple with Amasty’s Cookie Consent extension. This tool provides secure and efficient ways to showcase a consent banner with different consent types, collect user preferences, and – based on user choices – handle ads and analytics data.

What’s more, the module allows you to add and control custom consent types. This is especially beneficial for merchants who need to adhere to both Google’s standards and specific local privacy laws.

Mind that you can only activate Consent Mode v2 via Amasty Cookie Consent extension only if Google Tag Manager is set up on your website via the following methods:

• Built-in Magento EE (Enterprise) GTM functionality;
• Manual editing of the GTM script, for example, in the Scripts and Style Sheets setting.
• Google Analytics 4 with GTM support extension from Amasty.