Thanks to Consent Management, Google obtains information about user-selected preferences regarding consent to the processing of data contained in a banner containing a request for consent to the use of cookies and dynamically adjusts the functioning of Analytics, Google Ads and third-party brands that create or read cookies. If users do not agree, the brands transmit so-called pings to Google signals instead of storing cookies. When using GA4, Google fills in the gaps in the collected data using conversion modeling and behavior modeling techniques.
More on this topic in the official Google support article.
Evaluation and implementation methods
The most important issue is of course having a banner cookie on the site. It is important here that it is a banner in which the user has the option to accept all cookies or select individual ones.
This refers to the ability to express or decline consent for each type of tag used to capture data on the website. For example, a website Greece WhatsApp Number List visitor can consent to the analysis of data using tools such as Analytics, while at the same time opting out of the collection of data for marketing purposes.
Deployment can be done via code or using Google Tag Manager. according to Google's official documentation.
Consent mode v2
From March 2024, changes in connection with the provisions of the Digital Markets Act will enter into force. The consent mode, which was previously optional, will soon be mandatory for all users of the Google Database Sale Marketing Platform. If there is no banner on the site and the consent mode is not implemented, recipient lists (remarketing) may be blocked in Google Ads and conversion tracking may be suspended after some time. The new, extended version (from now on named Advanced Consent Mode) will be enriched with two new options. They will be added to the existing two consents – analytical and marketing:
Either way, most users will either give full consent or refuse it entirely – the fine-grained choice of consent concerns a rather small number of users. If no opt-in is selected, the data will be estimated based on the "pings" above, but without taking personal data into account. Platforms that offer consent management will likely provide additional checkboxes for new features. If you are currently using a certified consent management platform, no configuration changes will likely be necessary as the update process will be automatic.