Google Consent Mode V2 Explained (And Why It Matters for Your Website)

What Is Google Consent Mode V2?

Google Consent Mode V2 is the latest evolution in how websites handle analytics, advertising, and privacy signals under stricter global data laws.

Rather than blocking all scripts outright, Consent Mode V2 introduces conversion modeling — Google’s AI-powered system that estimates how many conversions you would have recorded if users hadn’t declined cookies.

These modeled conversions rely on non-identifiable signals such as:

• Device type
• Country and time of visit
• Conversion type
• Browser type

The result: your marketing and analytics platforms stay privacy-compliant without losing complete visibility into user behavior.

Why This Update Matters

After March 2024, websites that haven’t adopted Consent Mode V2 risk major data loss — up to 70% fewer tracked conversions in some cases.

The biggest change is the addition of two new consent states:

• ad_user_data — determines whether user data can be sent to Google for ad measurement.
• ad_personalization — controls whether data can be used for personalized advertising (e.g. remarketing).

Together, these allow more granular consent decisions and better transparency for users.

How It Works in Practice

When a user visits your site, Google Consent Mode checks their consent preferences and adapts script behavior automatically.

If consent is granted, analytics and ads work normally.
If consent is denied, Google still receives anonymous “pings” — allowing modeled conversions to fill the gap without storing personal data.

LoveCookies is fully compatible with this system, ensuring that:

• The right signals are sent to Google.
• Scripts behave dynamically based on consent states.
• You stay compliant without losing key analytics data.

Implementing Consent Mode V2 (The Smart Way)

There are two main ways to implement Consent Mode V2 — through Google Tag Manager (GTM) or directly via the LoveCookies dashboard.

Option 1: Using Google Tag Manager (Recommended)

1. Prepare your site

   • Remove any manually added Google scripts or Tag Manager snippets.
   • Let LoveCookies inject these automatically based on region and consent.

2. Enable Consent Mode inside LoveCookies

   • Go to your LoveCookies Dashboard → Integrations → Google.
   • Enable “Consent Mode V2 (auto-detect).”
   • Enter your GTM container ID if you’re using Tag Manager.

3. Install the LoveCookies Tag in GTM

   • In Google Tag Manager, open your workspace.
   • Add a new tag → Community Template Gallery → Search “LoveCookies” (or use Custom HTML).
   • Paste your unique tag snippet from the dashboard.
   • Set the trigger to Consent Initialization – All Pages.

4. Configure your Google Tags

   • For Analytics, Ads, and Conversion Tracking, simply assign the All Pages trigger.
   • Consent Mode will automatically manage behavior — no manual blocking needed.

Option 2: Direct Google Tag Implementation

If you don’t use GTM, you can enable Consent Mode directly in LoveCookies:

• Go to Settings → Integrations → Google and toggle “Enable Direct Tag Support.”
• Enter your Google Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXX).
• LoveCookies automatically handles ad_user_data and ad_personalization consent signals.

This gives you all the benefits of Consent Mode V2 — without extra setup.

Integrating Non-Google Tags (Meta, TikTok, etc.)

For third-party scripts that don’t natively support Consent Mode, LoveCookies triggers custom consent events:

• lovecookies_event_functional
• lovecookies_event_analytics
• lovecookies_event_marketing

In Google Tag Manager, set your Meta, TikTok, or LinkedIn tags to trigger only when these events fire.
This ensures full compliance while maintaining performance data.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

1. Caching Plugins (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, etc.)

Some optimization plugins delay or minify scripts, breaking consent tracking.
Fix: Exclude lovecookies.js and gtm.js from JavaScript delay or minification.

2. Duplicate Integrations

Disable overlapping analytics plugins such as Site Kit, MonsterInsights, or GTM4WP.
LoveCookies already manages those integrations automatically.

3. GTM4WP Users

• Turn off the GTM4WP container.
• Use the LoveCookies tag to manage consent states and firing triggers instead.

Verifying That It Works

1. Open your website in Incognito mode.
2. Without granting consent, open DevTools Console and run:

gtag("get", "consent", "default");