Google Signals Is Changing on June 15, 2026: What It Means for Your Consent Setup

On June 15, 2026, Google is consolidating how advertising data flows between Google Analytics and Google Ads. The collection of Google Ads cookies and IDs will no longer be governed by two controls working together — it will be governed by a single Consent Mode parameter: ad_storage.

For years, the Google Signals setting in Google Analytics acted as a second safety net alongside Consent Mode. After June 15, that backstop is gone for the ads data path. Consent Mode will reflect only what your CMP sends. If your consent setup isn’t configured correctly, there’s no longer a setting in the GA4 admin to catch it.

Here’s exactly what’s changing, who’s affected, and what to check before the deadline.

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What is changing — and why it matters

Today, the collection of Google Ads cookies and IDs from the Google Analytics tag and the Firebase SDK is controlled by both:

• the Google Signals setting in Google Analytics, and
• your Consent Mode ad_storage setting.

Both had to permit tracking for the full signal to flow. After June 15, Google applies destination-specific controls:

• Data used in Google Ads → governed exclusively by Consent Mode ad_storage.
• Data used in Google Analytics (reporting) → governed exclusively by the Google Signals setting.

In other words, your Google Analytics tag will start behaving the way your Google Ads tag already does: ad_storage becomes the single switch for advertising cookies and IDs. The privacy lever moves out of the GA4 admin UI and into the consent signal your CMP sends.

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What is not changing

Google Signals isn’t going away — it remains the control for enhanced reporting in Google Analytics (demographics, interests, and cross-device data for signed-in users). It simply stops doubling as an ads-data control.

And only ad_storage is affected. There is no change to analytics_storage, ad_user_data, or ad_personalization, and no new cookies or identifiers are introduced.

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Who is most affected

• Businesses that turned Google Signals off as a privacy measure. This is the big one. If you relied on Signals being off to stop Ads from using cookies, that lever no longer works — after June 15, web and app activity with ad_storage granted will be associated with Google’s signed-in user information for audiences, bidding, optimization, and measurement.
• Advertisers serving the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, where a Google-certified CMP and valid consent signals are already required.
• Remarketing- and conversion-focused advertisers, whose campaign performance now hinges entirely on the ad_storage signal.
• Anyone still on Consent Mode v1, who should move to v2 Advanced with all four signals.

If you have Google Signals on, there is no change to your data behavior. If it’s off, your data behavior will change.

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The compliance angle

Because the control now lives entirely in your consent banner, the accuracy of the signal your CMP sends becomes a compliance matter, not just a performance one:

• If you don’t want Google Ads to use these cookies and IDs, set the default state of ad_storage to denied (this can also be set per region). Be aware this is a real tradeoff — denying ad_storage by default can shrink remarketing lists and reduce Smart Bidding efficiency.
• If your data-collection behavior changes, review your privacy disclosures and consult your legal team on any material-change notification obligations under GDPR and US state privacy laws.

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What to do before June 15

1. Check whether Google Signals is on in your GA4 property (Admin → Data collection and modification → Google signals). This determines whether your data behavior changes at all.
2. Confirm your CMP runs Consent Mode v2 Advanced and sends all four signals — ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization, analytics_storage — with sensible defaults (denied by default in the EEA/UK).
3. Verify the consent default fires before any Google tag, and that an update fires the moment a visitor makes a choice — on both first and returning visits.
4. Review your privacy disclosures and decide your ad_storage default deliberately, based on whether you want Ads to use this data.

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How CookiePal keeps you covered

This change makes the signal your consent banner sends the single source of truth for ad data — which is exactly what CookiePal manages. As a Google-certified CMP, CookiePal runs Consent Mode v2 in Advanced mode out of the box:

• Sets ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization, and analytics_storage to denied by default, before any Google tag fires.
• Updates those signals to granted the instant a visitor consents — and keeps them denied if they don’t.
• Lets you verify the implementation so you can confirm the right signals are firing on every page.

If you’re running CookiePal with Consent Mode v2, you’re already sending exactly the signal this change relies on. You can confirm it with our Google Consent Mode setup guide and verification guide.

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Sources

• Google Analytics Help — Updates to Google Analytics Data Controls
• Google for Developers — Consent mode overview
• Google for Developers — Set up consent mode on websites