Default consent set too late
The default consent state was set after tags had already fired, so those tags sent data before any consent setting existed. Google's guidance is to set the default before any tag or other code uses or updates consent. Put the default on a trigger that fires first, such as Consent Initialization, check that the banner loads before the Google tag, then publish the container.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- Google's consent mode troubleshooting, when checking the setup with Tag Assistant.
- What stops
- Tags that fire first send data before a consent state exists.
- How serious
- A setup warning, not an account penalty. The cost is consent-dependent data that cannot be relied on.
What it means
Consent mode tells each tag what the visitor allowed. The default is the starting state, which keeps the signals denied until a banner answers. Google's guidance is that a consent management platform should load before the Google tag sends any data, and that the default is set before any tag or other code uses or updates consent.
Order decides more than the values do. A default with the right settings that sits after the first tag still lets that tag run with no state. Inside Tag Manager, order follows triggers, so the default needs a trigger that fires before every other tag.
What actually triggers it
A default placed on the All Pages trigger
Tag Manager fires Consent Initialization before every other page view trigger, and Google built it for tags that set or update consent. A default on All Pages runs later, so tags on earlier triggers can read consent before it exists. Consent Initialization is only for consent tags, not for other tags that should fire early.
A consent banner that loads after the Google tag
The banner script sits lower in the page than the Google tag, so the tag runs before a visitor can answer. Check the order of script tags in the page source.
Fix it in this order
- Open the container and find the consent default, then note the trigger it fires on.
- Confirm the default sets all four parameters Google lists: ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization. A missing one is its own problem, Default consent not set.
- Move the default onto a trigger that fires before any other tag, such as Consent Initialization, not All Pages.
- If the site has a consent banner, check in the page source that its script loads before the Google tag.
- Create a version of the container and publish it, then confirm in Tag Assistant that the default is the first consent event on a fresh page load.
Often confused with
Consent mode installation out of order
Tag Diagnostics' message for consent commands that load in the wrong order on some pages. It names the sequence of commands in the page rather than the Tag Manager trigger. The fix is the same order, so this page covers both.
Verify consent mode set up as 0% consent rate detected
The default is set, but to the wrong value, so the rate reads zero. That is a value problem, not a timing one.