Google Consent Mode - The What, Why, and How

Petra Mlada
Written by
Petra Mlada
on
February 21, 2021

By 2022, Google plans to cease the support of third-party cookies on the Chrome web browser. This event will immediately impact your business - collecting data, running marketing campaigns, and projects. It will not be possible to run these activities in the same way you did for the past 15 years.

But there is a solution - with Openli and GCM, you will still be able to measure conversions and run your marketing operations smoothly while respecting user consent choices and privacy.

Google Consent Mode - Openli

So what exactly is GCM, how does it work, and how can it help your business?

What is Google Consent Mode?

Consent Mode will allow companies to manage user data on Chrome in accordance with the consent users give to the website.

Google Consent Mode is an application programming interface that allows different applications to talk to each other and allows you to change tag behaviors. Tags are used to set up cookies. Hence the Consent Mode will prevent you from writing and reading cookies when necessary.

If customers give your website full consent to track their data, GCM will ensure data collection continues as before. Nevertheless, with limited consent, you can still gather basic measurements, such as Timestamp, Referrer, and Ad-click information about the user, which will allow you to continue working with the collected data within:

  • Google Ads
  • Floodlight
  • Google Analytics
  • Conversion Linker

With integrated Google Consent Mode, it is business as per usual in your Marketing and Development activities. Customers can remain calm and reassured that their privacy is your priority, and even with limited consent, you can collect non-individually specified data to track your campaigns and initiatives.

Why is GCM a Game-Changer?

It might be obvious to some people what GCM does and how it can be used, but why is everyone talking about it? The reason is simple - GCM is a game-changer. When Google announced the launch of GCM, marketers and business owners around the globe felt relieved.

Some of them thought that when Google blocks third-party cookies in 2022, it will leave us in a black hole with too little data to run our marketing and advertising activities as before. Hence, the actual value of GCM lies in the balance between respecting customer privacy and being able to track, monitor, and evaluate our business campaigns and activities similarly as before.

How will GCM help YOUR Business?

Firstly, it is in the best interest of all businesses to abide by the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) and protect their customers' privacy. Making such changes will help you build trust with your customers and create a more sustainable environment on the internet.

Secondly, GCM is a benefit, with no losses—a new wave of opportunity you should not miss. After all, what is better than respecting your customers' privacy and strengthening your data-driven activities at the same time?

Join the future with Openli before it's too late!

If you would like to find out how exactly GCM works on a software level, please read our short Guide.