Tag manager
A tag manager is a tool that loads a website's marketing and analytics scripts (tags) from a single container and fires them on configurable triggers, so that consent can be enforced in one place.Google Tag Manager is the common example. The site includes one container script, and marketers add tags (Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insight, chat widgets) through a web interface, with triggers that decide when each tag fires and variables that read values from the data layer. The convenience is also the compliance risk: tags added in the interface run without a developer looking at them, and by default they fire on every page load, before any consent.
Two mechanisms bring a tag manager under control. First, consent signals: Google Tag Manager has built-in consent checks for Google tags through Consent Mode, and additional consent checks can be required for any tag, so a tag waits until the matching signal is granted. Second, triggers on the consent event: the consent tool pushes an event with the accepted categories to the data layer, and each tag's trigger requires that event with the right category. Cookiequiet pushes a cq_consent event with per-category flags for exactly this, and its auto-blocker holds scripts and iframes that a tag manager injects from about 80 known trackers until consent.
Load order still matters. The consent script must run before the container so the defaults are set first, and tags hard-coded in the HTML outside the container must be marked or moved. The Google Tag Manager guide goes through the setup step by step.