Google: Search Ads Publisher Products to Enforce Consent Management Requirements by February 1, 2024

​Google announced in August 2023 that when serving ads to users in the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA), partners using their Search Ads publisher products (AdSense for Search, AdSense for Domains, and Programmable Search Engine) will need to use a certified CMP that integrates with IAB Europe's Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF).

Prior to this announcement, Google stated that this rule would go into effect on January 16, 2024. This notification is a crucial update, as it states that they will now start enforcing the rules on February 1, 2024, and that they are giving partners an extra option to deliver advertising in specific situations where consent is not accessible. Reminder: Google has started the process of stopping serving personalized ads as of November 2023.

When enforcement starts, the product will only serve ads if you have added a new parameter to your ad request indicating that you want to allow ads that use an invalid traffic-only cookie and local storage on both consented and unconsented traffic. This will happen if you send Google's Search Ads publisher products an ad request for EEA or UK traffic and it does not use a Google-certified TCF CMP. Legal responsibility for the instruments used by partners to obtain consent extends to consent-gathering about the use of cookies and local storage in online advertising. Using this argument is not required. When deciding whether to use the new parameter, you should think about appropriate regulatory guidelines, pertinent regulations, and legal counsel.

Starting on January 10, 2024, you can get further information about how to use the new parameter (named "ivt") on the AdSense Custom Search Ads for Web developer site.

​Partners may experience a decline in their EEA and UK revenue if they decide to use the new parameter rather than a Google-certified TCF CMP. Google's Search Ads publisher offerings won't deliver any ads if neither the new parameter nor a Google-certified TCF CMP are present. In order to determine which TCF Purposes Google uses, examine Publisher integration with the IAB TCF v2.0 if you decide to implement a Google-certified TCF CMP.

On February 1, 2024, enforcement will start on a small portion of EEA and UK traffic. By the end of February 2024, enforcement will be applied to all EEA and UK traffic. By February 1, 2024, partners should make sure they have installed a Google-certified TCF CMP to minimize any potential damage to their profitability.

​Google will keep supporting its partners with the transition while they get ready for the new requirements. Partners may check the new Google consent management requirements for delivering ads in the EEA and UK (for publishers) for more information, including a complete list of Google-certified CMPs.

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