Description of consent mode parameters
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 5:39 am
Two parameters of the Google tag are responsible for providing information about the consent status: gcs and gcd. You can check them, for example, using the DevTools tool built into the browser.
The table below shows what the values that appear next to the gcs parameter mean.
Parameter value ad_storage analytics_storage
G100 no consent no consent
G101 no consent agreement
G110 agreement no consent
G111 agreement agreement
Additional modes introduced in version v2 (ad_user_data and ad_personalization) are described by the gcd parameter. It contains information about what the default value was before the user interacted with the banner, and what consents were granted after the update. This parameter looks like this:
11ad_storage1analytics_storage1ad_user_data1ad_personalization5
The numbers separating the parameters may have a different value, or uppercase letters may appear instead.
Consents to individual modes are marked with letters according to the table below:
Letter Default status Status after update
l - small letter L no consent mode implemented no consent mode implemented
m default status is not set no consent
n default status not set agreement
p no consent there was no update
q no consent no consent
r no consent agreement
t agreement there was no update
at agreement no consent
in agreement agreement
Based on the gcd parameter, Google detects whether consent mode has been implemented. If the parameter value is: 13l3l3l2l1 (all lowercase L) it means that the page does not have Consent Mode implemented.
Verification of consent mode
We can check the values of the above parameters in cash app database Chrome in the developer tools. To do this, open an incognito browser window, then display the developer tools (Command + Options + I for Mac or Ctrl + Shift + C for Windows), go to the Network tab and open the page where we want to check the consent mode.
Consent verification in developer tools
Then we type "collect" in the search engine and display the parameters that are passed to the Google tag. Thanks to the fact that we are using incognito mode, the site "thinks" that we are visiting it for the first time and displays a cookie banner. The gcs parameter in this case has the value G100 - which is correct, because we have not yet given any consent to tracking. The gcd parameter has a value with the letters "p", which also means the default lack of consent.
Let's click the button on the "Accept all consents" banner. In the next "collect" request, the gcs parameter will change to the value G111, and the letters "p" in the gcd parameter will be replaced with "r". Similarly, you can test other variants (e.g. reject all consents, consent only to analytics) and compare the parameter states with the above tables.
We can also check the correctness of the Consent Mode implementation in the GA4 and Google Ads panels.
checking consent settings in the Google Ads panel
checking consent settings in GA4 panel
Implementation of consent mode
The easiest way to implement Consent Mode v2 is to use the consent management platform (CMP) recommended by Google. You can also create your own, proprietary system that will collect consents and control the launch of tracking codes using Google Tag Manager.
However, if you do not want to pay for a consent management platform every month and do not have the funds to create your own solution, we recommend our proprietary tool - cookieMate . Thanks to it, you will be able to collect consents from your website users in accordance with the regulations, and you will also be able to run Google Analytics and Google Ads in Consent Mode. Importantly, you only pay once for the implementation and configuration of the tool. I encourage you to test it.
Don't let Google block your ads!
Activate Consent Mode with cookieMate extension.
Order implementation
Summary
Currently, in order to conduct effective marketing activities in accordance with the law, it is necessary to implement a system that will collect and manage user consents to tracking. In addition, if we want to use the full potential of Google Ads and Google Analytics, it is necessary to enable Consent Mode. Without it, you will not be able to use personalized ads, and conversion tracking will be blocked.
The table below shows what the values that appear next to the gcs parameter mean.
Parameter value ad_storage analytics_storage
G100 no consent no consent
G101 no consent agreement
G110 agreement no consent
G111 agreement agreement
Additional modes introduced in version v2 (ad_user_data and ad_personalization) are described by the gcd parameter. It contains information about what the default value was before the user interacted with the banner, and what consents were granted after the update. This parameter looks like this:
11ad_storage1analytics_storage1ad_user_data1ad_personalization5
The numbers separating the parameters may have a different value, or uppercase letters may appear instead.
Consents to individual modes are marked with letters according to the table below:
Letter Default status Status after update
l - small letter L no consent mode implemented no consent mode implemented
m default status is not set no consent
n default status not set agreement
p no consent there was no update
q no consent no consent
r no consent agreement
t agreement there was no update
at agreement no consent
in agreement agreement
Based on the gcd parameter, Google detects whether consent mode has been implemented. If the parameter value is: 13l3l3l2l1 (all lowercase L) it means that the page does not have Consent Mode implemented.
Verification of consent mode
We can check the values of the above parameters in cash app database Chrome in the developer tools. To do this, open an incognito browser window, then display the developer tools (Command + Options + I for Mac or Ctrl + Shift + C for Windows), go to the Network tab and open the page where we want to check the consent mode.
Consent verification in developer tools
Then we type "collect" in the search engine and display the parameters that are passed to the Google tag. Thanks to the fact that we are using incognito mode, the site "thinks" that we are visiting it for the first time and displays a cookie banner. The gcs parameter in this case has the value G100 - which is correct, because we have not yet given any consent to tracking. The gcd parameter has a value with the letters "p", which also means the default lack of consent.
Let's click the button on the "Accept all consents" banner. In the next "collect" request, the gcs parameter will change to the value G111, and the letters "p" in the gcd parameter will be replaced with "r". Similarly, you can test other variants (e.g. reject all consents, consent only to analytics) and compare the parameter states with the above tables.
We can also check the correctness of the Consent Mode implementation in the GA4 and Google Ads panels.
checking consent settings in the Google Ads panel
checking consent settings in GA4 panel
Implementation of consent mode
The easiest way to implement Consent Mode v2 is to use the consent management platform (CMP) recommended by Google. You can also create your own, proprietary system that will collect consents and control the launch of tracking codes using Google Tag Manager.
However, if you do not want to pay for a consent management platform every month and do not have the funds to create your own solution, we recommend our proprietary tool - cookieMate . Thanks to it, you will be able to collect consents from your website users in accordance with the regulations, and you will also be able to run Google Analytics and Google Ads in Consent Mode. Importantly, you only pay once for the implementation and configuration of the tool. I encourage you to test it.
Don't let Google block your ads!
Activate Consent Mode with cookieMate extension.
Order implementation
Summary
Currently, in order to conduct effective marketing activities in accordance with the law, it is necessary to implement a system that will collect and manage user consents to tracking. In addition, if we want to use the full potential of Google Ads and Google Analytics, it is necessary to enable Consent Mode. Without it, you will not be able to use personalized ads, and conversion tracking will be blocked.