Stricter Cookie Requirements from Google: Here’s What You Need to Know

Throughout 2024 and 2025, major privacy regulations such as the GDPR, Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the ePrivacy Directive have forced websites and online services to strengthen how they handle cookies. It’s no longer acceptable to simply notify users that cookies are being set — consent now needs to be freely given, informed, and unambiguous.

As of July 2025, both Google and Microsoft have begun enforcing stricter cookie compliance across their advertising platforms. If your website isn’t sending the correct consent signals, you could see conversion tracking disabled and your ability to optimise ads severely restricted.

At Clear, we work with ecommerce and B2B clients across multiple platforms, so we’ve been preparing for these changes since Google first announced Consent Mode v2. Here’s what you need to know.

Why Are Google and Microsoft Enforcing Consent Now?

March 2024 saw the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) come into effect, which nominated Google and other large online companies as gatekeepers of GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive. Other than Google, the gatekeepers designated by the DMA include Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and ByteDance, owners of TikTok. As gatekeepers, these companies are obligated to enforce cookie compliance in line with GDPR across their platforms.

This act saw Google introduce new consent policies that aligned with European and UK privacy regulations, including Google Consent Mode v2. To ensure their users follow these directives, Google and Microsoft have both now begun disabling conversion tracking for accounts that are not compliant. Microsoft took the lead on this in May 2025, while Google began cracking down on non-compliance in July 2025.

In practice, this means advertisers must demonstrate valid user consent for tracking, or risk losing access to accurate data and campaign performance.

What Do You Need to Be Compliant?

In short, you need a cookie banner.

Cookie banners provide the signals that Google and Microsoft are looking for to show users have consented to their data being tracked. We recommend you use a cookie banner provided by one of Google’s trusted Consent Management Platforms (CMPs), which offer full GDPR compliance and integrate with Google Consent Mode v2.

In the past, sites could get away with a small banner just stating the use of cookies. Now, stricter laws from the EU mean that to be GDPR-compliant, cookie banners must adhere to new rules, such as:

• Consent must be opt-in, not implied
• It must be easy for users to decline, withdraw or change consent preferences
• Users must be given granular control of cookie categories, including necessary, functional, analytics and marketing cookies
• Third-party scripts must be blocked until given consent
• Detailed records of consent actions must be kept 

What happens if you don’t have a cookie banner?

First of all, if you don’t have a cookie banner, you won’t be GDPR compliant and could risk a fine. As far as Google and Microsoft are concerned, failing to provide them with the correct consent signals via a cookie banner can lead to the following consequences:

• Conversion tracking being disabled
• Personalised ads targeting being disabled
• Risk of account suspension

If you know anything about PPC Ads, you’ll understand why these risks are so dire. To break it down: for a lot of campaigns, conversions form the basis of performance and optimisation. Without the information on who’s converting when and where, you’re functionally running blind and the ads would likely see a drop in results.

As far as personalised ads targeting goes, this is only relevant to remarketing campaigns, which are made up of audiences based on users that have previously visited your site. Without the audiences to target, Google will stop delivering ads to these users, meaning your remarketing campaigns will stop running.

Finally, Google may simply suspend your account if you’re found to be violating Google’s EU User Consent Policy by not using a cookie banner. So far, we’ve seen Google sending out emails to warn of non-compliance before taking such drastic action, but this may be on the cards for repeat offenders. 

What Are the Next Steps for Advertisers?

If you’re running Google or Microsoft Ads you’ll need to set up a cookie banner or check your current banner is compliant. At Clear, we recommend CMPs such as Cookie Script, which integrate directly with Google Consent Mode v2 to ensure your Ads accounts remain fully functional.

A compliance checklist:

✅ Implement a GDPR-compliant cookie banner from a trusted CMP.

✅ Connect it with Google Tag Manager and GA4.

✅ Set up Microsoft UET and enhanced conversions.

✅ Block third-party scripts until consent is given.

✅ Review consent logs regularly.

Alongside cookie banners, it’s worthwhile setting up enhanced conversions and the advanced version of Consent Mode v2 to improve data capture while remaining compliant. For Meta Ads, the Conversions API also helps to reduce data loss.

Final Thoughts: Stay Compliant, Stay Competitive

Google and Microsoft’s stricter consent policies are here to stay. By putting the right cookie banner and integrations in place, you can protect your ad tracking, stay compliant with EU law, and continue running campaigns effectively.

👉 Not sure if your site is compliant? Contact us to book a technical audit. We’ll review your setup and implement a solution tailored to your site..