Google's CMP Launches Support for Consent Mode March 25, 2025

Google has announced a new update to its Consent Management Platform (CMP) by introducing support for consent mode. This mode enables other Google products, such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, or Firebase, to respect user consent choices seamlessly. Starting later this week, two new account-level flags will become available on the European Regulations Settings page in Privacy & Messaging.

This update by Google reflects its commitment to compliance and transparency, providing publishers with the tools they need to manage user consent effectively while adhering to regulatory requirements.

These flags, disabled by default, can be enabled to allow Google’s CMP to interpret existing EEA, UK, and Swiss user consent choices for consent mode’s advertising purposes, including ad storage, personalization, user data, and analytics storage. This update is aimed at publishers who wish to use Google's CMP to obtain consent and ensure transparency in the utilization of both publisher and advertising products.

Applicability and Responsibility

If publishers enable this setting, it will apply to all European Regulations messages displayed on the web and in apps but will not extend to messages shown on AMP. It is important to note that publishers are responsible for ensuring their messages comply with legal requirements.

Understanding European Regulations Messages

Under Google's EU User Consent Policy, publishers must make specific disclosures to users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK. They are also required to obtain consent for the use of cookies or other local storage where legally necessary, and for the collection, sharing, and use of personal data for ads personalization. This policy reflects the requirements outlined in the EU ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Google provides a helpful tool, Privacy & Messaging, that enables publishers to create and display messages to users, gathering consent as required under GDPR. These messages list the ad technology providers used by the publisher’s site or app and seek users' consent for data usage related to personalized ads and other purposes. Consent for data use by the publisher’s own site or app can also be requested.

Structure of a European Regulations Message

European Regulations messages are composed of multiple "screens" (or "pages") that are shown to users based on their interactions with the message. The buttons and links presented can be customized for different countries according to publisher preferences in the "User Choices" section during the message creation process.