BG, Bulgarian version of this pageFree auditSend an enquiry

Integrated marketing

Consent Mode v2 and GA4: what changed and what to check

The ScaleLab teamPublished 9 min read

In short: From 15 June 2026, Google Analytics uses Consent Mode as the only control over whether GA4 collects advertising cookies and identifiers for Google Ads, while the Google Signals setting only affects GA4 reporting. Your cookie banner, and the signals it sends, now decide what data reaches your advertising. Check the four Consent Mode v2 signals, the default values and what happens after a visitor makes a choice, using Tag Assistant, then compare your numbers before and after the change.

What exactly changed on 15 June 2026?

Until now, two things in GA4 influenced advertising data: the signals from the cookie banner and the Google Signals setting. From 15 June 2026, Google separates their roles. According to the Google Analytics help page, the visitor’s choice passed through Consent Mode is now the single control that decides whether GA4 collects advertising cookies and identifiers for Google Ads. The help page does not name a specific signal, but in practice this depends on Consent Mode’s advertising signals, mainly ad_storage.

Google Signals stays, but with a narrower role: it decides whether GA4 data is associated with information about signed-in users for reporting purposes. It is no longer the switch that turns data collection for advertising on or off.

Google has also announced further changes later in 2026. The ad_personalization signal will be the only control over whether data is used for personalised advertising in your Google Ads account, and IP addresses will be passed encrypted to linked Google Ads accounts and governed by the settings there. As of September 2026 the exact dates have not been announced, so keep an eye on Google’s page.

This is where the difference lies. Many companies used to assume that switching Google Signals on or off settled the question of advertising data. Now the decision is made per visitor, based on the signals the banner sends. If the banner sends the wrong values, Google Ads gets the wrong picture.

The typical problems look like this:

  • The banner sends no signals at all: tags do not know what the visitor chose, and advertising data is missing or handled differently from what you expect.
  • Defaults are set too late: tags fire before the banner has said anything, and the first page view is recorded incorrectly.
  • The banner updates only two of the four signals: for example ad_storage and analytics_storage are updated, while ad_user_data and ad_personalization stay denied even when the visitor accepts everything.
  • Everything is granted by default: the data looks complete, but that is a legal risk, not a fix.

What does this mean for your business? If your Google Ads campaigns optimise for enquiries or orders, less or distorted conversion data means the system learns from incomplete information. Reports show fewer results, and automated bidding strategies react to that.

ScaleLab tip: Before you change budgets because conversions dropped after mid-June, check the banner. The cause is often in the tracking, not in the advertising.

Google’s official developer documentation describes four consent types your banner should send:

  • ad_storage: allows or blocks storage of cookies for advertising purposes.
  • analytics_storage: allows or blocks storage of cookies for analytics measurement.
  • ad_user_data: sets consent for sending user data related to advertising to Google.
  • ad_personalization: sets consent for personalised advertising.

The first two signals existed before. The other two came with v2, and they are the ones most often missing from older banner set-ups. The documentation states plainly that no consent values are set by default: if your site does not send them, the visitor’s choice simply never reaches the tags.

There are also two ways of working. In basic mode, Google tags do not load until the visitor makes a choice in the banner. In advanced mode, tags load straight away with the default values and, when consent is denied, send cookieless pings that Google uses to model results. Which mode suits you also depends on the legal assessment of your site, so the decision should not be left to the technical team alone.

For the wider picture, our article on marketing without third-party cookies explains why your own data and accurate tracking matter more and more.

A practical checklist: what to check

1. Check the default values

The default command (gtag('consent', 'default', ...)) has to run on every page before any measurement data is sent. Set all four signals. If your banner loads slowly, the wait_for_update parameter gives it a set number of milliseconds to update consent before tags fire. Google also lets you set different defaults for different regions.

2. Check the update after a banner choice

Once the visitor accepts or declines, the banner has to send an update (gtag('consent', 'update', ...)) for all four signals. Do not take it on trust that your consent management platform (CMP) does this: check in its settings that the Google Consent Mode integration is switched on and that it sends the v2 signals.

3. Test with Tag Assistant

Google recommends this order:

  1. Open Tag Assistant and enter your site’s address.
  2. Select the earliest Consent event and check that all four signals are set and the On-page Default column shows Denied, if that is your set-up.
  3. Make a choice in the banner, select the latest Consent event and check that the On-page Update column shows the new values.
  4. Open the Tags tab and see which tags fired and which were blocked.

According to Google’s guide to troubleshooting Consent Mode, if the Consent tab is empty, Consent Mode is not implemented or the Google tag is blocked. A message saying a tag read consent before a default was set means your defaults are set too late.

4. Check diagnostics in Google Ads

In Google Ads, open Goals, then Conversions and Summary, select a conversion action and open the Diagnostics tab. There you will see whether Consent Mode is implemented and whether modelling is active. Google notes that the status can take 48 hours to appear, sometimes up to 2 weeks, and that conversion modelling needs at least 700 ad clicks over 7 days for a given domain and country grouping.

5. Compare the numbers before and after

Pick a period before 15 June 2026 and a period of the same length afterwards. Compare enquiries and orders in GA4, conversions in Google Ads and the count in your own system, such as your CRM or the sales team’s spreadsheet. If the drop appears only in the advertising reports while real enquiries are unchanged, the problem is in the data, not in demand. What else contradictory reports can reveal is covered in our article on signs your marketing strategy is not working.

What you compare Where What a gap tells you
Enquiries and orders Your own system The real result
Key events GA4 How many are measured
Conversions Google Ads What advertising receives
Consent Mode status Google Ads, Diagnostics Whether signals arrive

ScaleLab tip: Note the date of every change to the banner or tags. Without those notes, a month later it is hard to tell whether a shift in the numbers came from the market or from a setting.

What may still change?

Two things are worth watching. First, Google has said the changes to personalisation and IP address controls will come later in 2026, with exact dates still to follow. Second, on 19 November 2025 the European Commission proposed the so-called Digital Omnibus on data and the GDPR, separate from the Digital Omnibus on AI that has already been adopted. Under it, cookie rules would move into the GDPR (a new Article 88a), some analytics measurement could be exempt from consent, banners would be barred from asking again for six months after a refusal, and sites would have to respect privacy signals sent by the browser.

This is only a proposal. As of September 2026 it is still being negotiated, and the current rules apply in full. Do not redesign your banner around a text that has not been adopted.

This article is general information, not legal advice. How your banner should look and which Consent Mode approach is acceptable for your site are questions to settle with a lawyer or a data protection specialist.

How to organise the work

The good news is that the check is short and easy to repeat. Check the banner, measure the gap and decide what to fix. If you would rather have someone outside the business review the site and tracking, you can request a free website and marketing audit. Once tracking is right, budget decisions rest on real numbers again. In our work on integrated digital marketing all channels follow one plan and one measurement set-up, so their results can be compared in a single monthly report.

Frequently asked questions

Consent Mode is how Google tags learn what the visitor chose. Since 15 June 2026 it is the only GA4 control over data collection for Google Ads, so without it your advertising receives incomplete data. Whether and how you must ask for consent is a legal question best discussed with a lawyer.

What does Google Signals do after the change?

Google Signals now only decides whether GA4 data is associated with information about signed-in users for reporting. It does not control the collection of advertising cookies and identifiers for Google Ads. Since 15 June 2026 that is decided by Consent Mode, and in practice it depends on its advertising signals, mainly ad_storage.

How can I tell whether my banner sends the right signals?

Open the site through Tag Assistant and check the Consent events before and after a banner choice. All four signals should be present and should update. Then check the Diagnostics tab of your conversion actions in Google Ads.

Why did Google Ads conversions drop after June?

A common cause is that the banner does not send all the signals, or sends them too late. Compare Google Ads conversions with the real enquiries and orders in your own system. If real results have not fallen, check the tracking before you change the campaigns.

Should I change my banner because of the Digital Omnibus?

No. As of September 2026 the Digital Omnibus on data and the GDPR is a proposal under negotiation, and the current rules apply in full. Follow its progress and plan changes only once it is finally adopted.

Sources

Related articles

  • Email and automation

    How do you advertise and measure without relying on third-party cookies?

    Third-party cookies are becoming less reliable because of consent rules, browsers and people who decline tracking, even though Chrome is not removing them. A company can advertise and measure steadily by relying on its own data: enquiries, orders and an email list of people who signed up themselves. Add clearly requested consent, contextual advertising and tracking tied to real sales.

    9 min read

  • Paid advertising

    Which metrics show whether paid advertising brings in money, not just clicks?

    Clicks and CPC tell you what attention costs, not whether advertising brings in money. That is what cost per enquiry or order (CPA), revenue against ad spend (ROAS) and the share of visitors who send an enquiry show. The more Google Ads automates campaigns, the more it matters that the platform gets accurate conversion data, because that is exactly what it optimises for.

    10 min read