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TRACKING SPECIALIST — BARIS ASA · LONDON
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Start the check → TRACKING SPECIALIST — BARIS ASA · LONDON

READING ROOM › FIELD NOTE › NOTE-005

NOTE-005 · FIELD NOTE FILED 01 NOV 2026 · REVISED 01 NOV 2026 F-201 F-402

Cookiebot vs CookieYes vs Usercentrics vs Complianz for GTM Consent Mode v2 (UK, 2026).

ABSTRACT — All four consent banners work with Google Tag Manager and Consent Mode v2. Choose by platform, then check the setup each vendor starts you on. Compared by a consultant who sells none of them.

Baris Asa, Synctag, tracking consultant, London. Last checked 1 November 2026.

For Google Tag Manager and Consent Mode v2 on a UK site, pick by platform. WordPress: Complianz Premium or CookieYes. Shopify with GTM in the theme: the CookieYes or Cookiebot app, then check it in Tag Assistant. Custom or headless: Cookiebot or CookieYes, or Usercentrics across several domains. All four are Google-certified consent banners (CMPs) with a GTM template. The brand sets cost. The wiring sets what Google measures, so test it.

I’m Baris Asa (Synctag, London). I set up and test Cookiebot, CookieYes, Usercentrics and Complianz with GTM Consent Mode v2 for UK ecommerce brands and their agencies. I have no partnership, affiliate or commission arrangement with any tool on this page.

If Google Ads conversions dropped when your banner went live, look at two settings before the brand. First, whether Google still measures people who click reject (basic or advanced mode). Second, whether UK visitors are set to denied until they choose (the UK default, entered as GB in the template). Without one, Google’s tags run unrestricted for UK visitors until they click.

Already running one? Check it in Google Ads in two minutes:

  1. Go to Goals › Conversions › Summary, open your purchase conversion, then Diagnostics.
  2. “Consent mode is implemented” means the signals arrive, but you’re under 700 ad clicks in 7 days per country and domain, so there’s no modelling yet. “…and modelling is active” means Google is estimating the conversions it can’t see.
  3. Neither status two weeks after a change points to a setup fault. Confirm it with the Tag Assistant tests below before anyone changes anything (Google Ads: verify consent mode).
ToolBest fitDefault mode in its GTM guide
CookiebotCustom or headless sites, Shopify appAdvanced: Google still gets cookieless signals from people who reject
CookieYesWordPress, Shopify, or a site you’d rather pay for by pageviewsBasic unless its “fire before consent” toggle is on: Google’s tags wait for a yes
UsercentricsCustom builds across several domainsNot set by the guide: depends which tags you block
ComplianzWordPress only, Premium pluginAdvanced: “block Google tags before consent” defaults to No

Read from each vendor’s GTM guide on 1 November 2026, not tested in their accounts. Google Ads becomes eligible to model missing conversions at 700 ad clicks over 7 days per country and domain. Modelled conversions then build up gradually after a training period (Google Ads).

Which one to pick, by platform

  • WordPress, one site. Complianz is built for it, but its guide says the Consent Mode steps “require Complianz Premium”. CookieYes is the other route. CookieYes says its GTM template is “incompatible” with its WordPress plugin, so use one or the other (CookieYes).
  • Shopify, GTM in the theme. Shopify says pixels added outside its own tools may need a third-party banner or custom code (Shopify Help).
    1. Ask your agency where GTM lives: in the theme, or added as a custom pixel under Settings › Customer events. A custom pixel runs separately from the theme and needs a different setup (Shopify: custom pixels).
    2. Install the CookieYes or Cookiebot app. For CookieYes, its guide has you remove Shopify’s default banner, then check CookieYes is listed under Installed privacy apps in Settings › Customer privacy › Cookie banner (CookieYes: Shopify setup).
    3. Run the tests below. If Diagnostics shows no status two weeks after install, the app’s Consent Mode setting needs checking.
  • Shopify, no GTM. If your tracking runs through Shopify’s own tools and pixels, Shopify’s banner under Settings › Customer privacy › Cookie banner can govern them. Third-party apps follow it only if they use Shopify’s Customer Privacy API. Check each one.
  • Custom build, headless, or several brands. Start with Cookiebot or CookieYes. Usercentrics earns its place when one team runs several domains: it covers 3 from its Pro plan and is priced by sessions.
  • Already on one of the four. Don’t switch. Test what you have. A banner swap rarely fixes a wiring fault. It moves it to the new banner.

Cookiebot vs CookieYes

Pick CookieYes for a large catalogue with modest traffic, or if you want automatic cookie blocking on the free plan. Pick Cookiebot for a small site with heavy traffic, or if you want its GTM guide to leave Google’s tags in advanced mode. For Consent Mode v2 itself neither is better: both are Google Gold partners with a GTM template, a WordPress plugin and a Shopify app.

CookiebotCookieYes
Web plans billed bySubpages per domainPageviews per domain
Mode in its GTM guideAdvancedBasic unless a toggle is on
Automatic cookie blockingPremium plans. Free is manualEvery plan, Free included
IAB TCFPremium plansPro and up

Comparison sites quote other free-tier units. The figures here are from the vendors’ pricing pages on 1 November 2026. The billing unit is why catalogue size matters: a big catalogue has many subpages and, often, fewer pageviews per page (Cookiebot pricing, CookieYes pricing). Google lists Cookiebot, CookieYes and Usercentrics as Gold partners and Complianz as Silver, vetted on criteria including “customer support and ease of technical integration” (Google CMP Partner Program). The tier doesn’t wire anything for you. OneTrust and Didomi are Gold too, and the tests below apply to them as well.

Each one with GTM, in brief

Each vendor’s guide puts its template from GTM’s Community Template Gallery on the Consent Initialization - All Pages trigger, which Google says “will always fire before all other tags” (Google: Tag Manager consent mode support). The template sets the consent default and sends the update when the visitor clicks. The wider GTM work is on the Google Tag Manager consultant page.

  • Cookiebot. Template “Cookiebot CMP”. Recommends always configuring a global region, and its example sets that to denied. Notes that leaving Google’s tags on their built-in consent checks sends data to Google before consent, and suggests extra checks if that concerns you. Other tags fire on its cookie_consent_update event (Cookiebot: GTM deployment).
  • CookieYes. Template “CookieYes CMP”. The advanced toggle is labelled “Allow Google tags to fire before consent”. Non-Google tags have their own guide (CookieYes: Consent Mode).
  • Usercentrics. Template “Usercentrics CMP”, Google Consent Mode “enabled by default”. Its last step links to instructions for making tags consent-aware “to block them until consent is given”, without saying which tags. Auto-blocking is not available through GTM, “due to GTM’s asynchronous tag loading” (Usercentrics: GTM implementation).
  • Complianz. The WordPress plugin shows the banner. Its GTM template sets the Consent Mode defaults and updates. Its guide pairs the default answer “No” to “Do you want to block all Google Tags before consent?” with advanced mode. Marketing tags such as the Meta Pixel fire on cmplz_event_marketing (Complianz: Consent Mode v2 guide).

Non-Google tags matter because most of them don’t read Consent Mode by themselves. Skip that step and the banner holds Google back while Meta fires for everyone.

URL passthrough and ads data redaction

For whoever manages your GTM. Two more Google settings for visitors who refuse cookies. Passthrough carries ad click details in the link from page to page. Redaction strips ad click identifiers from Google Ads requests while ad_storage is denied (Google: set up consent mode).

ToolURL passthroughAds data redaction
CookiebotOff in its gtag snippetOn in its gtag snippet
CookieYesOn in its gtag snippetOn in its gtag snippet
UsercentricsA switch in the GTM templateFollows ad_storage in the GTM template
ComplianzExplained, no settingExplained, no setting

The Cookiebot and CookieYes values come from code examples for installs without GTM, not from their GTM templates, and both can be changed (Cookiebot: Consent Mode, CookieYes: Consent Mode). In GTM, check the template’s own fields and confirm in Tag Assistant rather than trusting a copied snippet.

Basic vs advanced: which mode each CMP starts you in

Basic holds Google’s tags until the visitor says yes. Google gets nothing from people who reject and fills the gap with a general model. Advanced loads the tags straight away and, for people who reject, sends cookieless pings (signals with no cookie or ID). Google then builds a model for your account (Google Ads: about consent mode). The full trade-off is on the Consent Mode service page.

On CookieYes? Check the “Allow Google tags to fire before consent” toggle. Off means basic.

On Usercentrics, the mode is whatever your tag blocking makes it: hold Google’s tags until consent and it’s basic, let them load and it’s advanced. Either mode is fine if someone chose it.

On an audit I check two things first: who chose the mode, and whether the UK is in the denied list. If nobody can say who chose the mode, it’s whatever the vendor’s guide shipped. A banner that stores choices without passing them to Google is on file as F-201 .

The UK default: set UK visitors to denied

Set the four Google signals (ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization) to denied for the UK (GB in the template) as well as the EEA and Switzerland, or keep a global default of denied.

Skip both and UK visitors get no consent state. Google’s tags then run unrestricted until the visitor clicks (Google: “by default, no consent mode values are set”).

A denied default costs less than it sounds. In advanced mode Google still gets cookieless pings from those visitors, and once you’re eligible for modelling it builds modelled conversions from them over time.

What each guide does about the UK:

  • Cookiebot: recommends always having a global region, and its example sets it to denied.
  • CookieYes: you set the default per region in the template. Enter “All” to cover everywhere.
  • Usercentrics: “by default, all permissions are set to denied prior consent”.
  • Complianz: the template defaults are “pre-configured” and its guide doesn’t name regions. Check the UK in Tag Assistant.

The UK cookie rules are PECR, enforced by the ICO. Which cookies need consent is for your lawyer or data protection lead. Making the tags obey the answer is mine.

Test it, whichever you choose

Test 1 you can run yourself. Tests 2 and 3 are for whoever manages your GTM.

  1. Google Ads. Goals › Conversions › Summary › your purchase conversion › Diagnostics. Look for “Consent mode is implemented” or “…and modelling is active”. A new status usually shows within 48 hours, up to two weeks in some cases.
  2. Reject. Connect Tag Assistant (Google’s tag debugger) to a fresh private window, from the UK. Before clicking, the Consent tab on the first event should show all four signals denied by default. Click reject, then select the next event: the On-page Update column should show all four denied. A _ga or _gcl_au cookie appearing afterwards is a fault.
  3. Accept. In a new session, accept. The update on the click’s event should show granted, not only from the next page.

What the results mean:

  • Reject and accept look identical in Tag Assistant. The banner stores choices but doesn’t tell Google: F-201 .
  • ad_user_data never updates to granted. Same wiring fault, and it blocks Enhanced Conversions (hashed customer emails that match more sales to ads), even for people who accepted.
  • Diagnostics shows Enhanced Conversions not set up at all. That is F-402 .

Any of these on your site is the job I do: see the Consent Mode service page or write to [email protected].

Why reported conversions fall after a rollout, and what modelling recovers, is in Consent Mode v2 conversion drop.

Prices compared

ToolFree tierEntry paid plan
Cookiebot1 domain, 50 subpages£6/month, 50 subpages, 1 domain
CookieYes5,000 pageviews a month£8/month, 100,000 pageviews
UsercentricsUp to 1,000 sessions a month, 1 domain€7/month, 1,500 sessions
ComplianzPlugin. Consent Mode is Premium$59/year, 1 site

Web plans as each vendor’s pricing page showed them on 1 November 2026, before VAT, monthly billing where offered. Cookiebot and CookieYes showed GBP from the UK. Usercentrics is in EUR and Complianz in USD, billed yearly only. Older plans, other currencies and annual billing differ, so other sites quote other figures (Cookiebot, CookieYes, Usercentrics, Complianz). Shopify app plans are priced separately in each app listing.

At ecommerce traffic you’ll be past most entry plans. Take one number from your own analytics to each page. Cookiebot: the subpages its scan finds on your domain. CookieYes: monthly pageviews. Usercentrics: monthly sessions.

Having it tested

I run the three tests above on your container and send each fault back with its fix. Eight years in tracking, 19 faults on file in the fault index, five talks on record. Scope is on the Consent Mode service page, or write to [email protected].

Common questions

Are Cookiebot and Usercentrics the same company?

Yes. “Cookiebot is a trademark of Usercentrics A/S” (Cookiebot Support), and the Cookiebot Shopify app is published by Usercentrics GmbH (Shopify App Store). They are still sold as separate products: Cookiebot web plans priced by subpages, Usercentrics by sessions.

Do I need a Google-certified CMP to run Google Ads in the UK?

Not as an advertiser. Google’s CMP Partner Program site says nothing prevents advertisers from using a CMP that isn’t a partner. A certified one saves you building the Consent Mode integration yourself. The requirement is for publishers: sites showing ads through AdSense, Ad Manager or AdMob have needed a Google-certified CMP integrated with IAB TCF for personalised ads to EEA and UK users since 16 January 2024 (Google AdSense Help).

No. IAB TCF is the ad industry’s shared consent format, used mainly by publishers. Consent Mode works without it. Cookiebot keeps TCF to its Premium plans, Usercentrics and CookieYes to Pro and up. My rule: a shop that doesn’t sell ad space rarely needs it.

Sources

Read on 1 November 2026:

— B.A., filed from London

CONNECTED RECORDS F-201 F-402

REVISION HISTORY — revised 01 NOV 2026.

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