Product Release: Google Consent Mode V2, Google Tag Manager Template, User Experience/Onboarding, Embed Code Detection, Consent Duration Settings, & Export Options

Google Consent Mode V2

Google Consent Mode (GCM) V2 allows websites to adjust how and when data is shared with Google based on user consent collected via the Concord Consent Banner & Privacy Center.

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Our simplified setup integrates with Google in the following ways:

• The GCM integration allows for a few different options that determine how and when Google tags are allowed and what data is shared with them and when.
• Regardless of the chosen GCM Mode (Basic vs. Advanced modes are discussed in more detail below), when enabled and once consent is granted, Concord automatically shares the user's consent preferences with Google, which changes the behavior of Google services based on these preferences. This works with both Google Tag (gtag) and Google Tag Manager (GTM) implementations.
• A new Google Tag Manager community template has been approved by Google and released via their Community Template Gallery. That template can be found here.

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Feature highlights include:

• Google Consent Mode V2 toggle on the Consent Settings configuration form which allows you to select one of the following configuration settings: Disabled, Basic, or Advanced.
  • Disabled: Concord functions normally, blocking any Google tags until consent is received based on your standard consent and tracker settings. After user consent is received, no consent data is synced with Google.
  • Basic Consent Mode: Basic Consent Mode offers a simplified privacy friendly option to sync data with Google. Google tags remain inactive until the user interacts with the consent banner. Once users consent, Google tags are enabled, consent data is synced, and Google begins collecting data based on the user’s consent settings. Without consent, no data is sent to Google, and Google Ads relies on a general conversion model.
  • Advanced Consent Mode: Advanced Consent Mode offers a more robust option that shares additional data with Google prior to consent. Google tags load immediately and while waiting for user consent, a minimal amount of cookieless measurement data is sent to Google to allow for more accurate conversion modeling. Once consent is granted, full measurement data is then sent to Google based on each user’s consent settings.

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• Show or hide the Google Privacy Policy link on Concord’s Consent Banner based on your GCB V2 configuration mode. This is required by Google.

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• Updates to the Deployment → Integrations → Embed Concord section to include Google Tag Manager integration instructions.
• Realtime notification that Google Consent Mode V2 is disabled or in Basic or Advanced mode on your website.
• Ability to easily configure Google Consent Mode V2 for a given region and automatic syncing of settings.
• Google approved Tag Manager template for Concord (link above).

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For more information on Google Consent Mode V2, visit Concord’s Help Center article or Google’s About Consent Mode document.

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User Experience & Onboarding Improvements

We are always focused on continually improving the experience for all of our users, companies and end users alike, and this release includes a number of updates and improvements to the experience in the Admin UI, including some reorganization of the Admin UI for clearer navigation and onboarding. This includes:

• All Integrations can now be found in the Deployment → Integrations section of the navigation menu and we did a big refresh of the Embed Concord screen (previously called Embed Code), which is now the first section of the new Integrations section.

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• The Deployment → Integrations → Embed Concord section includes more detailed instructions on implementation and the new Google Tag Manager option was added to this section as well to align with the Google Consent Mode V2 release mentioned above.

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• Real-time embed code detection and Google Consent Mode V2 settings detection was added to the Deployment → Integrations → Embed Concord section to make it easy to know if data is being collected (more details below) and the status of your current Google Consent Mode V2 setting.
• User Experience → Website Experience with tab navigation for Consent Banner, Privacy Center, & Floating Button has been replaced with direct navigation, so you now navigate directly to User Experience → Consent Banner, User Experience → Privacy Center, and User Experience → Floating Button.

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• When creating a new Organization or Project, we now give you the option to navigate directly to the Deployment → Integrations → Embed Concord section at the end of the creation process. This makes it easier to know what to do next in order to get up and running with Concord.
• To enable quicker onboarding and tracker discovery, the default settings were changed for new projects. Blocking Mode is now set to Discovery by default and the Floating Button is disabled by default. This allows you to quickly start detecting trackers prior to enabling any user facing experiences for your users. That means that you can start categorizing cookies, scripts, and iframes immediately after implementing Concord on your website. Once complete, you will simply turn on the Consent Banner and the Floating Button.
• The breadcrumb navigation was updated to make it clearer that you can quickly change between projects and regions. Both projects and regions now use the same select button dropdown treatment as the organization switcher.

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Concord Embed Code Detection

When we implemented the user experience and onboarding improvements above, we also wanted to make it as easy as possible to know if your initial Concord implementation was successful, so we added automatic Concord Embed Code detection to the Deployment → Integrations → Embed Concord section. This functionality looks for activity for a given project in the last week and will show Recent Data Detected if data is detected during that timeframe and will show No Recent Data if we haven’t seen any activity in the last week.

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Consent Duration

Different regions across the globe now have different requirements and recommendations when it comes to the duration of trackers like cookies. As an example, Germany now recommends 6 months as the duration for cookies. This setting enables our customers to easily configure this on a per region basis. The default is 12 months, but adjustments that are made per region will be automatically synced for each user in a given region. Once the duration has expired, the user will be prompted to re-consent. As part of this change we also implemented the following changes to these other consent duration settings in the Admin UI:

• Updated the maximum consent duration for Consent Types to 60 months.
• Updating the maximum data retention for Data Systems to 120 months.

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Other Fixes & Improvements

• Updates to the default Consent Banner text to better align with Google and other data privacy requirements.
• Ability to export Cookies & Scripts, Data Systems, and Data System Attributes tables to .csv files.
• Fixed an issue in the Branding section where logos were spilling out in some cases (primarily when larger square logos were added). We also added additional help details about logo size.
• Fixed an issue with the Privacy Options and Privacy Request text settings for the Privacy Center and added additional help text to clarify how those settings are used in the Privacy Center.
• Fixed a small visual glitch in the Privacy Center when consent settings were changed.
• Updated the phone number validation in the privacy request forms in the Privacy Center more flexible and intl ready.
• Enhancements to optimize the load time for the Consent Banner and Privacy Center widget.
• Changed minimum project name length to 2 characters.
• Changed minimum data systems name length to 1 character (for data systems like X).
• Fixed a few translation issues in certain languages (German, etc.).
• Fixed an issue with the billing link on the status alert page that is shown to suspended or disabled organizations.