VertoTalks #002 - Google Consent Mode Explained

Deep-dive into Google Consent Mode - thresholds, validation methods and how to measure the uplift in GA4.

1. Consent Mode Explained: Thresholds, Verifications, and Measuring the Uplift VertoDigital Community Talks #002 Yasen Lilov Partner, Head of Data & Analytics

2. Agenda What is Consent Mode and how it works? How can I be sure that has been implemented correctly, and modeling is ON? How to measure the uplift and work with the data? 3 simple questions:

3. What is the reason we are talking about Consent Mode?

4. Regulatory Changes Regulations such as GDPR and ePrivacy Directive are impacting how data can be collected and used 3rd Party Cookies Use cases for measuring and reaching users with pixels are limited and will continue to decrease over time Browser Updates Heightened controls are impacting traditional data collection (e.g. cookie expiry times and device identifiers)

5. Why bother?

6. Cookie Settings Confirm Selection Potential drop in measured data Attribution Bidding Users decline to consent to cookies Updates to consent banner on website Less conversion data to feed downstream systems Less confidence in bidding , optimization and analysis € € € € € € € € € € € € € € €

7. How does the future look like? Reported data 2016 100% 0% 2021 Illustrative Example Modeled Observed Modeled Observed Future Modeled Observed

8. What is Consent Mode?

9. What is Consent Mode ? Cookieless Mode? Limited data use Mode? Privacy Aware Mode? Privacy First Mode? Google_placeholder_name_123

10. What is Consent Mode != Consent Management …is the process that follows the legal guidelines for data collection. The tools/software through which this is applied are called Consent Management Platforms (CMPs)

11. What is Consent Mode != Consent Management … is the process that follows the legal guidelines for data collection. The tools/software through which this is applied are called Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) … is a feature that allows you to adjust how Google tags behave based on the consent status of your users. The enablement of that feature requires GTM changes and/or dev changes (based on the used CMP)

12. What is Consent Mode != Consent Management Digital Markets Act Advertisers must comply! Tech Providers (gatekeepers) must comply

13. Google Consent Mode Observed data (with Cookies) Cookieless pings for Modelling Cookiebot (example) Great. But how it works ?

14. Google Consent Mode Observed data (with Cookies) Cookieless pings for Modelling Cookiebot (example)

15. Proprietary Google machine learning algorithm Fills in Missing Data: When users don't give consent to collect their data, the algorithm estimates missing information Protects Privacy: The algorithm respects user privacy by using anonymous and aggregated data, so individual users can't be identified. Improves Over Time: It continuously learns and updates from new data, making its predictions more accurate and reliable as time goes on.

16. What is Consent Mode ?

17. What is Consent Mode ? Blackbox Google’s way of complying with regulation (DMA) Google feature that adjusts tracking behavior based on user consent signals uses machine learning to estimate missing data while protecting user privacy (no cookies or IDs).

18. How can I be sure that Consent Mode has been implemented correctly, and it works?

19. Three steps. Analyse modeled data Review the website Confirm consent mode signals in-platform 1 2 3

20. Download here Review the website 1

21. N avigate to Data Collection > Data Streams > Consent Settings: Confirm consent mode signals in-platform 2

22. Navigate to Conversion Goals > Summary > {{Conversion}} > Diagnostics: Confirm consent mode signals in-platform 2

23. Analyse modeled data 3 Thresholds.

24. You have a daily ad click threshold of 700 ad clicks over a 7 day period , per country and domain grouping. General rule of thumb: Expect results from campaigns that meet that criteria.

25. The property collects at least 1,000 events per day with analytics_storage='denied' for at least 7 days . The property has at least 1,000 daily users sending events with analytics_storage='granted' for at least 7 of the previous 28 days. It may take more than 7 days of meeting the data threshold within those 28 days to train the model successfully; however it's possible that even the additional data won't be sufficient for Analytics to train the model. General rule of thumb: With estimated 50% consent accept rate , have minimum of 2500+ Daily users 2500+ Daily events (page_view is an event)

26. Okay, we’ve met the thresholds. How to check for uplift?

27. In the Google Analytics 4 interface.

28. But first, Reporting Identity.

29. What is the primary mechanism GA4 uses to recognize users?

30. User ID (unique, business provided) Google Signals ID (anon. Cookie + Google profile) Modeled (estimated, no cookie or IDs) Device ID (anon. cookie)

31. Case Study

32. THE CLIENT

33. THE CHALLENGE SnapLogic, a leading provider of Intelligent Integration Platform (iPaaS), faced a significant challenge regarding data privacy regulations. The company needed to ensure its online operations complied with stringent rules, such as GDPR, without sacrificing the detailed user analytics critical for its marketing efforts and service improvements. Striking a balance between respect for user consent choices and the need to collect meaningful data was crucial. However, achieving this while navigating complex privacy laws and technological options posed a significant hurdle.

34. Users decline to consent to cookies Potential drop in measured data Attribution Bidding Less conversion data to feed downstream systems Less confidence in rep orting, bidding , optimization and analysis € € € € € € € € € € € € € € € THE CHALLENGE On top of that, ensuring compliance meant that data collection was inevitably going to be impacted.

35. THE APPROACH The core of the solution was in the implementation of Google Consent Mode via Google Tag Manager . This approach allowed SnapLogic to adjust how Google's tags behave based on the consent status of end-users , thereby maximizing data collection while respecting user consent choices. Consent Mode Observed data (with Cookies) Cookieless pings for Modelling Google Consent Mode was then integrated with SnapLogic's Consent Management Platform “Cookiebot” to handle user consent decisions effectively. By adjusting the settings of analytics_storage and ad_storage , SnapLogic could control the behavior of Google Analytics cookies and ad conversion tracking cookies, respectively. Cookiebot

36. Without Consent Mode With Consent Mode, Firing cookieless pings for ad_storage or analtics_storage = denied users Modeled Conversions Observed Conversions Observed Conversions (Consent Mode adjusts the behaviour of tags based on user consent) 80 % of lost conversions recovered THE RESULTS Actual Conversions Data exported from the CRM Total conversions Recovered conversions Reported conversions Average opt-in rate 76% Data exported from HubSpot, Google Analytics 4 and Cookiebot Date range Q2 2023 - 01/04/23 to 30/06/2023 Conversion = website form completion

37. THE RESULTS Data exported from HubSpot, Google Analytics 4 and Cookiebot Date range Q2 2023 - 01/04/23 to 30/06/2023 Conversion = website form completion

38. THE RESULTS 80 % of lost conversions recovered Thousands more conversions to optimise against Future-proof privacy-first data collection setup

39. Q & A

40. Thank you!

41. Yasen Lilov Partner, Head of Data & Analytics VertoDigital /in/yasenlilov/ [email protected] Scan to connect!