Audit the current state
Whether Consent Mode is installed at all, and if so, whether the signals are mapped correctly.
Reporting & Compliance
Google Consent Mode v2 Setup
Required for EEA traffic since March 2024, and easy to configure wrong. We map your consent banner to Google's signals correctly, so declined consent gets modeled instead of just vanishing.
100%
EEA traffic modeled instead of dropped
1–2wk
Typical setup & verification turnaround
0
Consent signals left mapped to the wrong category
The problem
Without it, declined consent just means missing data
Google has required Consent Mode v2 for advertisers with EEA traffic since March 2024. Without it configured correctly, a visitor who declines cookies doesn't get modeled — they just disappear from your reporting and from Smart Bidding's view of your account entirely.
The setup itself is a handful of consent signals mapped between your consent management platform and Google's tags. Most of the accounts we check either haven't done it, or have it installed with the signals mapped to the wrong consent categories.
The fix
What we set up
- Consent Mode v2 signals (ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization)
- Mapped correctly to your CMP's actual consent categories, not the default guess
- Basic or advanced implementation, depending on what your CMP supports
- Modeled conversions verified as populating for declined-consent traffic
- GA4 consent settings aligned with the same signals, not configured separately
- Checked against Google's own consent diagnostics, not just switched on
Before & after
What changes once signals are mapped correctly
Same consent banner, same visitors declining cookies — the difference is whether Google can still model what happened.
Declined consent traffic just vanishes from reporting
Without Consent Mode wired up, a visitor who declines cookies disappears from conversion reporting entirely, not just from remarketing.
Before
Vanishes from reporting
After
Modeled correctly
Signals mapped to the wrong consent category
A default implementation guesses at how your CMP's categories map to Google's signals, and the guess is often wrong.
Before
Wrong categories
After
Mapped to your CMP correctly
GA4 and Ads consent configured separately
Two different consent configurations drifting apart over time means GA4 and Ads eventually disagree about the same visitor.
Before
Configured separately
After
Aligned to one signal set
Process
How the setup runs
Map consent signals
Your CMP's categories connected to Google's consent parameters, matched to what they actually mean.
Verify modeling
Checked that declined-consent traffic is being modeled, not just dropped from reporting.
Document and hand over
A written record for your own compliance file, not just a setting nobody can explain later.
What clients say
Don't just take our word for it
The measurement rebuild came before a single campaign changed. It felt slow at the time. In hindsight it is the only reason the decisions since then have been worth anything.
You speak to the person doing the work. No account manager relaying questions and coming back three days later with half an answer.
Every agency before this one wanted to raise the budget. This one spent the first month cutting waste and explaining exactly what was being removed and why.
Questions
Common questions
Do we need this if most of our traffic isn't in the EEA?
Google's requirement applies to any EEA traffic your account serves, even if it's a small share. It's worth configuring even for a small percentage.
Which consent platforms do you support?
Any CMP that supports the Google Consent Mode API — that covers most major platforms, including Cookiebot, OneTrust and Complianz.
Is this a legal compliance service?
No — we configure the technical implementation correctly. Whether your consent banner itself meets your specific legal obligations is a question for your legal counsel.
What happens if we switch CMPs later?
The signal mapping needs to be redone against the new CMP's categories — usually a short piece of work rather than a full rebuild.
Start here
Find out what your account is actually reporting
Send us access and we will come back with a written audit: what is tracked, what is double-counted, what is missing, and what we would change first.
No pitch deck · No lock-in · Findings are yours either way