Google Consent Mode with the AdSimple Consent Manager

Last updated: October 2026 · applies from Consent Manager version 2.2.1.87

The AdSimple Consent Manager (ACM) supports Google Consent Mode v2 on websites. It sets the consent default before Google tags run and sends an update to Google every time a visitor makes or changes a decision. Both are set up in the dashboard without writing code.

Contact our support first: If Consent Mode or TCF signals are missing in your Google tags, please contact AdSimple support first ([email protected], +43 2282 60 715, or our contact form). We are the first point of contact for setting up Consent Mode, TCF and our GTM template, not Google support.

1. What Consent Mode does

Consent Mode tells Google tags (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Floodlight) whether your visitors have consented. Google describes the feature in its official documentation:

Consent Mode does not by itself make a website compliant with any particular law. Please check with your legal advisor which requirements apply to you.

Consent type Meaning (as defined by Google) Controlled in the ACM by
ad_storage Enables storage, such as cookies, related to advertising Category "Marketing"
ad_user_data Sets consent for sending user data related to advertising to Google Category "Marketing"
ad_personalization Sets consent for personalized advertising Category "Marketing"
analytics_storage Enables storage, such as cookies, related to analytics Category "Statistics"
personalization_storage Enables storage related to personalization, e.g. recommendations Category "Preferences"
functionality_storage, security_storage Storage for site functionality and security always granted

2. Enable Consent Mode (basic mode)

In basic mode Google tags stay blocked until the visitor consents. Only then do they load, together with the consent update.

  1. Log in and open My Consent Manager → your domain → Settings. New customers can create a free account there and add their domain.
  2. Open the section Google Consent Mode.
  3. Set Google Consent Mode enabled to Yes.
  4. Leave Load Google tags before consent (advanced Consent Mode) at No.
  5. Recommended if you do not use TCF: set Show Google notice in the banner to Yes (see section 5).
  6. Click Save. The widget is rebuilt within a few minutes.

The ACM then sets, before any other script:

gtag('consent', 'default', );

After every decision it sends gtag('consent', 'update', ) with the chosen values. On later page views the stored decision is sent as an update right after the default.

Requirement: the Consent Manager embed code must be the first script directly after the opening tag, before Google Tag Manager and gtag.js, without async, defer or sandbox. If you use an optimisation plugin such as WP Rocket, exclude the code from JavaScript optimisation and delay.

3. Advanced mode

In advanced mode Google tags load right away. Until the visitor decides, all Google consent types are denied and the tags only send cookieless pings, which Google uses for modelling. All other services (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Google Maps) stay blocked in advanced mode as well.

  1. Enable Consent Mode as described in section 2.
  2. Set Load Google tags before consent (advanced Consent Mode) to Yes.
  3. Click Save.
  • In advanced mode ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization always start as denied. Custom default values only apply in basic mode.
  • Back to basic mode: set the same switch to No.
  • Turn Consent Mode off completely: set Google Consent Mode enabled to No. The ACM then sends no Consent Mode commands at all; Google tags are blocked by category like any other service.

4. Google Tag Manager

If you use Google Tag Manager, add the AdSimple Consent Manager template from the Community Template Gallery:

  1. In GTM: Templates → Tag Templates → Search Gallery → "AdSimple".
  2. Create a tag from the template, choose the default consent state and the regions (EEA, Switzerland and the UK, or your own region codes), trigger Consent Initialization – All Pages.
  3. Keep the Consent Manager embed code in the (recommended), or enter its embed URL in the template so the tag loads it.

5. A banner that meets Google's requirements

Google requires a banner that

  • explains that data is used for personalised advertising and analytics,
  • links to business.safety.google/privacy inside the banner,
  • offers an affirmative consent option ("Accept all").

The ACM provides this as the Google notice: in the section Google Consent Mode turn on Show Google notice in the banner; the text can be changed under Text → Google notice (Consent Mode). The link to Google's privacy page is always kept. The whole banner (texts, colours, position) is configured in the dashboard without code. The dashboard recommends the Google notice whenever Consent Mode is used without TCF. With TCF, the TCF texts cover this.

6. TCF and Consent Mode

With TCF enabled the ACM sets TCData.enableAdvertiserConsentMode. Google then infers ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization from the TC string. You can turn this off under TCF → TCF signals for Google enabled if you send these signals in another way. analytics_storage is sent through Consent Mode in both cases.

7. Check your setup

Debug mode: open your website with ?acm-debug=true (e.g. https://www.example.com/?acm-debug=true) and open the browser console. The report "ACM Selbstdiagnose", section "5. Google Consent Mode", shows

  • whether Google tags run before the Consent Mode default,
  • whether there is more than one default command,
  • whether consent types are already granted before consent.

You can run the report at any time with acmDebugReport() in the console.

Dashboard: the ACM installation check detects Google tags that run before the Consent Mode default and shows the notice "Google tags run before Google Consent Mode" for your domain. After fixing the order, click Check again.

Google tools: Tag Assistant shows the default and update state under "Consent". In Google Ads the consent mode status appears in the conversion diagnostics.

8. Google tag gateway (GTG)

With the Google tag gateway for advertisers your Google tag (gtag.js or Google Tag Manager) is loaded from your own domain and measurement requests are sent to your domain first, then forwarded to Google. It is set up on your CDN (for example Cloudflare, Akamai or Fastly) or on your own server (self-service setup).

Impact on consent: Consent mode only works if the Consent Manager sets the consent default before the Google tag runs. A one-click CDN setup injects the Google tag at the edge, usually at the top of the page. You then no longer control the load order, and the Google tag may run before the Consent Manager embed code. The consent signal arrives "late": Google may process the first hits without the visitor's consent state.

Check whether your tag is enrolled in GTG:

  • In the page source or the network tab of your browser, the Google tag is requested from a path on your own domain (for example https://www.example.com/metrics/?id=G-…) instead of www.googletagmanager.com.
  • In Tag Assistant, open Summary → Output → Hits Sent: the hits are routed to your measurement path on your domain.
  • Your CDN dashboard (for example Cloudflare → Google tag gateway) shows the gateway as enabled for your Google tag ID.

Check whether the consent signal is late: open your website with ?acm-debug=true; the report "5. Google Consent Mode" warns when Google tags run before the Consent Manager default. The installation check shows the same as the dashboard notice "Google tags run before Google Consent Mode".

If the consent signal is late and your tag is enrolled in GTG, choose one of these options:

  1. Recommended: use advanced consent mode. In the Consent Manager turn on Load Google tags before consent (advanced Consent Mode) (section 3). In addition, set the Data Transmission Controls and the consent defaults in your Google tag settings according to your needs, so the Google tag starts with denied consent even before the Consent Manager runs. Advanced consent mode is the recommended mechanism for GTG-enabled tags, because it also works with a manually set up gateway: Google tags may load, but they only send cookieless pings until the Consent Manager updates the consent.
  2. Move all Google tags into a Google Tag Manager container and deploy the container through the gateway, with the AdSimple Consent Manager GTM template on the trigger Consent Initialization – All Pages (section 4). The template sets the defaults inside the container before any other tag fires.
  3. Set up the gateway manually (self-service setup) instead of the one-click CDN injection, so that you control the script order and the Consent Manager embed code stays the first script in the .

9. Support

For questions about Consent Mode, TCF or the GTM template, AdSimple support is available by email ([email protected]), phone (+43 2282 60 715) and contact form. We usually reply within one business day with a first technical answer.