Tracking
Consent Mode and cookies
There are two ways to have a cookie banner. One is that it sits there while the scripts run anyway. The other is that it actually controls something. A surprising number of Danish sites belong to the first group.
- Same-day reply
- Fixed price
- No lock-in
- Consent Mode v2
- Blocking that works
- Documentation
- Without wrecking measurement
Service
Consent Mode and cookies
How it fits together
Consent Mode is Google's way of being told whether the user said yes. If they did not, Google receives a signal without identifiers, used for modelling rather than measurement. It is not the same as measuring, but it beats nothing.
It assumes the consent is actually passed on. If the banner is set up as a standalone element that does not talk to the tag setup, nothing happens no matter what the user clicks.
What I check
- Whether cookies are actually set before anything is clicked. That is the most common failure.
- Whether rejecting is as easy as accepting. It is a requirement and often not met.
- Whether consent is remembered, and whether it can be withdrawn afterwards without hunting.
- Whether the cookie policy matches the cookies actually being set.
- Whether there are scripts outside the tag manager that the banner has no hold on.
On still measuring
You do not have to give up on data to stay within the rules. Anonymous statistics without cookies are allowed without consent and can give a usable picture of traffic and behaviour.
I am happy to set up a cookieless measurement alongside, so you have something to hold the consent-based numbers against. It also makes it easier to see what share actually says no.
Deliverables
What you get
Concrete deliverables, not a report of recommendations someone else has to find time for.
- A review of the banner
Whether cookies are set before consent, whether declining is as easy as accepting, and whether the consent actually controls anything.
- Consent Mode v2
Set up so the consent signal genuinely reaches Google, and modelling can step in for the people who decline.
- An updated cookie policy
A list of the cookies actually being set, rather than the template that has been there since 2021.
- Cookieless measurement
An anonymous count alongside, so you have something to hold the consent-based numbers against and can see how many decline.
Process
How it works
Four steps. You know what happens when, and you can stop after any of them.
- 01
Map what measures today
First we find out what actually fires and what is just sitting there. There are usually three things measuring the same purchase and nobody daring to delete anything.
- 02
Clean up and name things
What is left gets named after a fixed pattern, so you can tell what a tag does without opening it. It sounds small, and it is the difference between a setup you can maintain and one you are afraid of.
- 03
Move measurement server-side
A container on your own subdomain so it is first-party all the way. Consent is respected — this is about measuring the people who said yes, not about getting around the rules.
- 04
Reconcile the numbers
Finally we hold orders up against Analytics and the ad platforms for a period. The numbers will never be identical, but you should know exactly why they differ.
Who does the work
I am the person you will be working with
My name is Mikkel and I have been building for the web since 2010. There is no project manager in between, and you will not get a junior on the job because the senior was busy. What you agree is what gets built, and I am the one building it.
Day to day I am a partner at Bigum&Co, and I have worked on more than 400 projects across ecommerce, pharma, construction and the public sector. Call or write — I usually reply the same day, and I will say straight away if the job is not a fit.
- Experience
- 16 yrs
- Projects
- 400+
- Rating
- 5.0
- Reply time
- Same day
In depth
Consent Mode and cookies
What the requirements actually say
The core is simple enough. Cookies or similar technology may not be placed on a user's device before the user has actively agreed, apart from what is strictly necessary for the site to function. Consent has to be as easy to decline as to give, it has to be withdrawable, and it has to be documentable.
What usually fails in practice is not the banner's wording. It is that scripts fire anyway. Either because something sits outside the tag manager that the banner has no hold on, or because embedded content — a video, a map, a chat widget — sets its own cookies the moment the page loads.
The other classic is declining being harder than accepting. One button saying yes, and a small link leading to a settings page with five toggles. There is case law on that, and it is simply a poor experience besides.
I am not a lawyer and I do not give legal assessments. What I can do is test what actually happens in the browser, fix the technical side, and write down what gets set when, so a lawyer has something to work from.
You do not have to give up on data
There is a widespread sense that consent and measurement are opposites, and that you have to choose between following the rules and knowing something about your traffic. That is not quite right.
Anonymous statistics without cookies are allowed without consent, provided they cannot be used to recognise an individual. That does not give a full user journey, but it gives a reliable picture of where traffic comes from, which pages get read, and how it develops. For a great many decisions that is enough.
Consent Mode covers the other part. If the user declines, Google receives a signal without identifiers that gets used for modelling. It is not measurement, and you should not pretend it is, but it beats a hole in the data.
The combination — a cookieless base measurement with consent-based measurement on top — gives you both something to decide from and a way to see what share actually declines. That number is useful in itself, and few people know theirs.
Reviews
What people say about me
Mikkel delivered competent, professional work setting up my website. Everything ran quickly and without a hitch.
Sisse Find(translated from Danish) Mikkel Tschentscher is my lifeline when something is urgent and nobody else can work it out.
Torben Wiese(translated from Danish) Mikkel is a man after my own heart. Executes at lightning speed, has an eye for detail and is always there when you need him. It does not get better than that.
Tini Owild(translated from Danish)
Services
Why me
- 16 years of experience
I have built for the web since 2010 and seen most of the ways a project can come off the rails. It makes the estimates more honest.
- 400+ projects
Across ecommerce, pharma, construction and the public sector. Chances are I have seen something close to your job before.
- You talk to the person coding
No project manager in between, and no junior on the job because the senior was busy. What you agree is what gets built.
Brands I have worked with
A selection. Some freelance, some through agencies, some across several years.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- Which cookie banner do you recommend?
- I have no partner deals, so it depends on the need. With one site and few third parties there is no reason to pay for a large platform. With many domains and languages there is.
- Do we lose much data by doing it right?
- You lose some, yes. How much depends on how many decline, and that varies a lot by industry and by how the banner is worded. In return it is data you are allowed to have.
- Can you document that we comply?
- I produce a review of what I found and what was fixed, plus an overview of what gets set when. It is not a legal sign-off — that has to come from a lawyer.
- What share typically declines?
- It varies a lot by industry and by how the banner is worded. I have seen anywhere from ten to forty-five percent. That is why it is worth knowing your own number rather than guessing from an average.
- Do we need a paid consent tool?
- With one site and few third parties, probably not. With several domains, several languages and documentation requirements, it makes sense. I have no partner agreements, so the recommendation depends only on the need.
- Can you test whether our current setup holds up?
- Yes. It is a manageable job: I go through what gets set when, with and without consent, and write it up. Most people are surprised by at least one item on the list.