Consent Mode v2: When Google Switches Off Conversion Tracking in the EU

What changed in July 2025

Google is enforcing its EU User Consent Policy noticeably harder. Since July 21, 2025, Google switches off core advertising features for websites that have not correctly implemented Consent Mode v2. Affected advertisers report notifications in which Google confirms the non-compliance and lists the consequences: personalized and non-personalized ads, remarketing and conversion tracking are disabled.

This is no longer a theoretical warning. Anyone running Google Ads in the DACH region without Consent Mode v2 loses the foundation for any sensible optimization. Without consent data, Smart Bidding's machine learning can no longer work fully.

Which functions are removed

• Conversion tracking: conversions are no longer captured.
• Remarketing audiences: lists can no longer be built.
• Personalized and non-personalized ads: delivery is restricted.
• Modeling: the data gaps that Consent Mode normally models stay unclosed.

In short: the account keeps spending, but blind. Budget goes out without measurable results.

Why Consent Mode is decisive for lead quality

For lead generation the consequences hit harder. Smart Bidding decides bids, audiences and budgets based on conversion data. When that data basis drops away, the system either stops optimizing or works on stale, incomplete signals. The result is rising cost with falling quality, because the model cannot tell relevant from irrelevant inquiries.

Consent Mode v2 does not solve this with more tracking but with smarter modeling. Users who decline consent are not measured. Google models, based on consenting users, how many conversions likely happened additionally. Measurement accuracy stays surprisingly stable even as consent rates drop, provided the implementation is clean.

What to do now

1. Check that Consent Mode v2 is implemented: confirm in Google Tag Manager or your consent tool that the two new parameters ad_user_data and ad_personalization are set.
2. Check tag behavior: all relevant tags (Google Ads, GA4, Conversion Linker) must pass the consent status through, not only on load but on every status change.
3. Raise consent rates: a technically correct banner only helps if users actually consent. Placement, design and copy move the rate significantly.
4. Enable Enhanced Conversions: they add attribution signals and work even without a complete cookie setup.

Anyone running Google Ads in the DACH region without Consent Mode v2 should act urgently. The grey zone, where missing consent mode only caused measurement losses, is over. Now it is real feature shutdowns.

Sources

Source: Search Engine Land, "Google cuts conversion tracking in EU over consent mode non-compliance", July 29, 2025; Google Ads Help, "About consent mode".