Why the old cookie banner is no longer enough
For years many PrestaShop stores handled cookies with a simple notice at the bottom of the page: "This site uses cookies, by continuing you accept". That model is long gone. On one side, the GDPR and the ePrivacy directive require prior, free and informed consent for all non essential cookies: no profiling cookie may be set before the visitor has said yes. On the other side, since March 2024 Google has raised the bar technically as well: anyone using Google Ads, remarketing or Google measurement services towards users in the European Economic Area must implement Consent Mode v2, which means telling Google the consent status through standardized signals.
In practice, today a cookie banner has to do two jobs at once: be legally compliant (prior consent, granular choices, refusal as easy as acceptance) and be technically correct (block scripts before consent and send Google the right signals). A banner that only shows a notice while the tags fire anyway fails on both fronts.
What changes with Consent Mode v2: the four signals
Consent Mode is the mechanism your site uses to tell Google tags whether the user has consented or not. With version 2, required since March 2024 for European Economic Area traffic, there are four signals to manage:
| Signal | What it controls |
|---|---|
| ad_storage | Writing and reading advertising cookies, for example to attribute a conversion to an ad click. |
| analytics_storage | Measurement cookies, such as those used by Google Analytics 4 to recognize sessions and returning visitors. |
| ad_user_data | Consent to send user data to Google for advertising purposes. |
| ad_personalization | Consent to personalized advertising, in other words remarketing. |
The first two already existed in the original Consent Mode. The ad_user_data and ad_personalization signals are what version 2 adds: without them, Google considers the advertising consent of a European user incomplete. Each signal must reflect the user's actual choice on the banner: if they refuse the marketing category, the advertising signals must be sent as denied; if they accept statistics only, only analytics_storage should be granted.
What the GDPR and EU cookie rules require
On the legal side, the framework is the GDPR together with the ePrivacy directive: non essential cookies require prior consent. In Italy the operational reference is the 2021 cookie guidelines issued by the Garante Privacy, the Italian data protection authority, which set very concrete rules for your banner:
- No profiling before consent: marketing cookies and non anonymized analytics must not be set until the user accepts.
- Granular choices: the user must be able to choose per category (necessary, statistics, marketing), not just "accept all".
- Refusing must be as easy as accepting: if there is an "Accept" button, there must be an equally direct way to refuse, with no obstacle course.
Here is the key point: Consent Mode v2 alone does not make you compliant. It is a Google requirement, not a legal basis. Compliance comes from a banner that collects consent the right way; Consent Mode is the channel that then passes that choice on to Google tags. You need both.
What happens if you do not implement it
The consequences come in two flavours, and neither is theoretical.
Degraded advertising and measurement data
Google requires Consent Mode v2 to keep using its advertising and measurement features fully towards European Economic Area users. Without the correct signals, Google Ads' ability to work with European audiences degrades: remarketing and campaign measurement lose quality precisely on the traffic that matters most for a European store. You keep paying for clicks while losing visibility on what converts.
Sanction risk
On the legal side, setting profiling cookies without consent breaches the GDPR and the ePrivacy rules, and in Italy the Garante's 2021 guidelines spell the requirements out in black and white. A missing or misleading banner, or one that does not actually block tags, exposes the store to complaints and fines. There is no need to guess numbers: the GDPR sanction regime is severe, and the cost of getting compliant is a tiny fraction of the risk.
How to implement it on PrestaShop
The manual route
Technically you can do everything by hand: write a JavaScript banner, set the consent defaults before any tag loads, update the four signals when the user chooses, rework your templates so third party scripts stay blocked until consent is given, and store the choices so you can prove them. It is delicate work: one tag loaded in the wrong place in the theme and cookies fire before consent, defeating the whole setup. And every theme update or new marketing script needs a manual review.
The module route
A dedicated module does the same job systematically: it intercepts tags, keeps them blocked until the user decides, shows a banner with the granular choices regulators require and sends Consent Mode v2 signals consistent with the choice. You remove both the technical risk and the ongoing maintenance.
The Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 module
For PrestaShop there is the Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 module (free), built exactly for this scenario:
- Compliant banner: accept, refuse and customize per category, in line with EU requirements (refusal as easy as acceptance, granular choices).
- Tags blocked before consent: non essential scripts do not run until the user gives consent.
- Consent Mode v2 signals: ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization are sent according to the user's actual choices.
- Consent log: choices are recorded, so you can demonstrate them if asked.
- No external service: everything is self hosted inside the module. No third party platform, no monthly fee, no data flowing through an external consent management provider.
- Wide compatibility: works from PrestaShop 1.7 up to 9.
Step by step installation and configuration is covered in the official module guide. If you are bringing your store into line on several fronts at once, multi-module carts pay off: the volume discount applies automatically, 10% above 150 € and 15% above 250 € (minimum 2 products).
Frequently asked questions
Is Consent Mode v2 mandatory for my PrestaShop store?
If you use Google Ads, remarketing or Google measurement services towards users in the European Economic Area, yes: since March 2024 Google requires Consent Mode v2, with the ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization signals sent according to consent.
Does Consent Mode v2 alone make me GDPR compliant?
No. Consent Mode is a technical requirement from Google. Legal compliance requires a banner that collects prior, granular consent and blocks profiling cookies before the choice, as required by the GDPR, ePrivacy and, in Italy, the Garante's 2021 guidelines.
What are the ad_user_data and ad_personalization signals?
They are the two signals introduced by Consent Mode version 2: ad_user_data tells Google whether the user consents to their data being sent for advertising purposes, ad_personalization whether they consent to personalized advertising (remarketing). They come on top of ad_storage and analytics_storage.
What do I risk if I keep the old banner?
Technically, degraded data for Google Ads and measurement on European traffic. Legally, setting profiling cookies without consent breaches the GDPR and ePrivacy rules and exposes you to sanctions.
Does the module rely on an external subscription service?
No. The Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 module is fully self hosted: banner, tag blocking, signals and consent log all run inside your PrestaShop, with no external service and no recurring fee. The module is free of charge.
Which PrestaShop versions is it compatible with?
The module is compatible with PrestaShop from version 1.7 up to version 9.