Mandatory for EEA + UK
since March 2024.

Google Consent Mode v2 is a JavaScript API that Google's tags (gtag, GTM, Google Ads, Google Analytics 4) listen to for consent signals. When a visitor clicks "Accept" or "Reject" on your cookie banner, your banner needs to call gtag('consent', 'update', { ... }) with the right consent state for Google's tags to behave appropriately.

Google Consent Mode v1 (the original) shipped in 2020 with two consent types: ad_storage and analytics_storage. Consent Mode v2 added two more in March 2024: ad_user_data (whether Google can use the visitor's data for personalization) and ad_personalization (whether to show personalized ads). All four are now required for EEA and UK visitor traffic to keep flowing into Google Ads campaigns.

Two ways to verify GCM v2 is correctly wired on your store:

• Run the ClearConsent scan. The scan checks for a gtag('consent', ...) call in your page source and reports whether the four v2 signals are present in the default state. If they're all there, the score's per-law breakdown for GDPR + UK PECR will reflect the credit.
• Use Google Tag Assistant. Install the official Tag Assistant Companion Chrome extension and visit your store from an EEA IP (or use a VPN). Tag Assistant will report each Google tag's consent state on page load and after banner interactions. Expected: all four v2 signals visible, default state denied for EEA, granted after clicking Accept.

If you're seeing v1 signals only or no consent state at all, contact us via the contact form. The fix is usually a banner re-install (which regenerates the JS to current GCM v2 specifications).

GCM v2 isn't a Google ad-tech feature; it's Google's response to EEA enforcement of GDPR + ePrivacy. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in 2020 (Schrems II) that EU data transfers to the US require additional safeguards, and subsequent French and Italian DPA decisions specifically targeted Google Analytics' compliance with GDPR data-flow principles. Consent Mode v2 is Google's attempt to provide a compliant data-collection path.

For a Shopify merchant: if your EEA visitors are seeing ads on your store powered by Google Ads remarketing, the consent signals need to be flowing. If they're not, the audience pool empties out, conversion attribution breaks, and you may also be technically out of compliance with PECR + GDPR for personalized advertising. ClearConsent's banner is configured to handle this automatically.