Google consent mode v2, set up correctly

Consent mode is how you tell Google's tags what a visitor has agreed to. Version 2 added two signals about advertising, and Google requires them for measurement and ad features involving users in the EEA, and it applies the same policy to the UK and Switzerland. If you only use Analytics, it still decides whether your tag sets cookies.

The four parameters

Set defaults before the tag

gtag("consent", "default", {
  ad_storage: "denied",
  ad_user_data: "denied",
  ad_personalization: "denied",
  analytics_storage: "denied",
  wait_for_update: 500,
});
gtag("js", new Date());
gtag("config", "G-XXXXXXX");

The default must run before the config call. wait_for_update gives your banner a moment to load a stored choice before tags fire. Defaults can also be set per region with a region list, so visitors elsewhere start with granted.

Update when the visitor chooses

gtag("consent", "update", {
  analytics_storage: "granted",
  ad_storage: "denied",
  ad_user_data: "denied",
  ad_personalization: "denied",
});

Call it when the visitor accepts, and again on every page load with their stored choice.

Basic or advanced

In basic mode, you do not load Google tags until consent is granted. In advanced mode, tags load immediately with consent denied and send cookieless pings that Google uses to model conversions. Advanced gives more data; basic is simpler to explain. Your legal advice decides which fits.

Check it

Tag Assistant shows the consent state on each event. DebugView, covered in GA4 DebugView, shows whether events arrive. If nothing arrives at all, the causes are in GA4 not collecting data.

GA4 + Search Console Setup installs the tag with consent defaults already in place, in the right file for your framework, so the order of default and config is correct from the start.