About the Author
Alex is Founder & Strategic Advisor at UnitedAds, a leading digital marketing agency specializing in PPC Management.
With nearly two decades of industry experience, he has become a recognized authority in creating high-impact Google Ads campaigns that drive business growth.
Under his leadership, UnitedAds has built a strong reputation for delivering data-driven strategies that maximize ad performance and improve online visibility. Alex’s expertise lies in leveraging the full potential of PPC to help businesses scale efficiently and achieve sustainable success in the competitive digital marketing landscape.
This blog post explores two key areas of Google Ads that can help retailers improve their performance: Consent Mode and Conversion with Cart Data.
Consent Mode (CoMo)
In an evolving digital ecosystem, advertisers need to respect user privacy while still collecting valuable data for their campaigns. Consent Mode is a Google tool that helps advertisers do just that.
What is Consent Mode?
Consent Mode enables advertisers to collect user data in a way that respects user choices and complies with regulations, like the EU User Consent Policy. This is achieved by:
- Collecting user consent via consent banners.
- Communicating user consent to Google tags and SDKs. This allows the tags and SDKs to adjust their behaviour and only collect data when consent is granted.
How does Consent Mode work?
When a user visits a website or app, they are presented with a consent banner. Consent Mode then communicates the user’s choices to Google tags and SDKs. If consent is granted for all data collection purposes, Google tags and SDKs will function normally. However, if consent is denied for one or more purposes, the tags and SDKs will adjust their behaviour accordingly. For example, they may stop collecting certain types of data or hash or redact certain information.
Benefits of Consent Mode
Consent Mode offers several benefits for advertisers:
- Respect for user consent choices: Consent Mode ensures that user choices are respected and that data is only collected when consent is granted.
- Robust and auditable consent collection: Consent Mode provides a robust and auditable way to collect and communicate user consent.
- Recovery of lost conversions: Consent Mode uses modelling to recover lost conversions from users who have not consented to all data collection purposes.
Types of Consent Mode
There are two types of Consent Mode: Basic and Advanced.
- Basic Consent Mode: Google tags and SDKs are blocked until consent is granted. Once consent is granted, they will function normally.
- Advanced Consent Mode: Google tags and SDKs adjust their behaviour based on the consent status received for each parameter. This means that some data may still be collected even if consent is not granted for all purposes.
Implementing Consent Mode
There are three main ways to implement Consent Mode:
- Google Tag Manager: This is the recommended method, as it provides a user-friendly interface for managing consent settings.
- Google tag/SDK: This method requires manually adding consent code to each page of your site or app, which can be complex.
- Custom implementation/non-integrated CMP: This method provides more flexibility but also requires more technical expertise.
Consent Mode for Apps
Consent Mode is also available for apps, using the Google Analytics for Firebase SDK (GA4F). Advertisers need to collect user consent via consent banners and communicate this consent to Google using GA4F Consent Mode v2 or AAP Consent Solutions.
Key Takeaways for Consent Mode
- Consent Mode is an essential tool for advertisers who want to respect user privacy while still collecting valuable data.
- There are two types of Consent Mode: Basic and Advanced.
- Consent Mode can be implemented in three main ways: Google Tag Manager, Google tag/SDK, or custom implementation.
- Consent Mode is also available for apps.
Conversion with Cart Data (CwCD)
Understanding the entire customer journey is crucial for effective campaign optimisation. While standard Google Ads conversion tracking (GACT) provides information on whether a clicked product led to a sale, it lacks details about the actual products purchased. This is where Conversion with Cart Data (CwCD) comes in.
What is Conversion with Cart Data (CwCD)?
CwCD enhances Google Ads conversion tracking by providing insights into the specific items purchased in a transaction. By augmenting GACT data with CwCD, advertisers gain a comprehensive understanding of their customers’ purchase behaviour.
Benefits of CwCD
CwCD offers numerous advantages for advertisers:
- Understanding the relationship between ad performance and sales performance: CwCD helps advertisers see which ads are driving sales of specific products.
- Unlocking insights into top-selling products: CwCD allows advertisers to identify their best-selling products, brands, and categories.
- Understanding up-selling and cross-selling opportunities: CwCD provides insights into which ads are driving cross-sales and up-sells.
- Understanding campaign profitability: When combined with cost of goods sold (COGS) data, CwCD enables advertisers to track the profitability of their campaigns.
CwCD Metrics
CwCD provides a range of metrics that offer transparency into what products are actually sold. These metrics include:
- Item ID sold (Product Sold)
- Revenue
- Units sold
These metrics can be found in the Google Ads UI under the “Conversions” columns at the campaign, ad group, and product tab levels.
Implementing CwCD
Implementing CwCD involves a few key steps:
- Link Google Ads and Merchant Center.
- Choose an implementation method based on existing conversion tracking setup. CwCD can be implemented through Google Ads, Google Analytics, Search Ads 360, or Firebase.
- (Optional) Provide COGS data in Merchant Center for profit reporting.
- Test the implementation to ensure CwCD parameters are firing correctly.
Troubleshooting CwCD
The Shopping Conversion Diagnostics Report in Google Ads can help troubleshoot CwCD implementation issues. This report provides insights into the percentage of conversion events with various parameters, such as value, cart data, and new customer information.
Key Takeaways for CwCD
- CwCD provides valuable insights into customer purchase behaviour by revealing the specific products purchased in a transaction.
- CwCD offers several benefits, including understanding campaign profitability, identifying top-selling products, and unlocking up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.
- Implementing CwCD involves linking Google Ads and Merchant Center, choosing an implementation method, providing COGS data (optional), and testing the implementation.
- The Shopping Conversion Diagnostics Report can help troubleshoot CwCD implementation issues.
By leveraging Consent Mode and Conversion with Cart Data, retailers can enhance their Google Ads campaigns, respect user privacy, and drive profitable sales growth.