Consent Mode
Google Consent Mode is the mechanism by which a website tells Google tags (Analytics, Ads, Tag Manager) whether the visitor has consented, so the tags adjust what they store and send instead of being blocked outright.Consent Mode works through consent signals set before any Google tag runs: analytics_storage, ad_storage, functionality_storage, personalization_storage and security_storage, plus, since version 2 in late 2023, ad_user_data and ad_personalization. The site sets defaults (normally denied for EEA, UK and Swiss visitors) and updates them when the visitor chooses. With consent, the tags behave normally. Without it, in the advanced implementation, they send cookieless pings that Google uses to model conversions and traffic; in the basic implementation, the tags do not load at all until consent is given.
Google made version 2 a condition for using audience and personalization features in Google Ads for visitors from the EEA and the UK from March 2024, which is why the Consent Mode v2 deadline mattered to advertisers. Consent Mode is not a legal mechanism in itself: it does not collect consent and does not replace a banner. It makes Google's tags respect the consent the banner collected, and it covers Google products only; other vendors need to be blocked or informed through the tag manager.
Cookiequiet sets the defaults to denied before any Google tag runs when the install snippet carries data-consent-mode="1", updates all seven signals on every choice, and pushes a cq_consent event with per-category flags to the data layer so Google Tag Manager triggers can follow. Microsoft UET consent is supported on request. See the Consent Mode v2 guide for the setup.