A CMP is a Consent Management Platform. This appears as a banner that allows users to either accept or decline cookies when entering a website and is a legal requirement for all websites in accordance with GDPR.
What do cookies do?
Cookies are a small text files that are dropped on a user’s browser when they visit a website. Every tracking pixel and tag that is setup on a website to track impressions, clicks, visits and conversions will drop a cookie, as well as many functions within a website such as payment systems.
The cookies are used in a range of ways, from recording the pure number of hits on a website, to user level identification that can then be utilised for further personalisation or remarketing purposes.
How are cookies categorised?
Within a CMP, cookies are categorised in one of four ways to let users either accept or decline them in batches, based on the actions the cookies would perform. The 4 categories are:
- Strictly necessary: Required to ensure the website works, such as payment gateways.
- Personalisation: Allows for user level personalisation of their web experience, such as saving basket additions for a user when they return to the site.
- Analytical: Tracks website usability, purely for reporting purposes, such as Google Analytics or Tag4ARM.
- Targeting: Media tracking that can be used for attribution or retargeting purposes, such as Google Ads or Facebook.
A user can accept a range of categories, or just one. Only tags that fall into an accepted category of cookies will be allowed to fire on the website. If a user declines a cookie category, then any tags that fall into that category will not record any hits, which can impact reporting capabilities by showing less users visiting or converting on the website compared to the volume seen before the CMP was implemented on the site.
What does a CMP look like?
A CMP can look and feel different per website that you visit. Some websites have simplified versions of a CMP with the 4 categories available, whereas others can provide granular data about the specific tags being used. There are no one size fits all rule for CMPs, but they must adhere to the following conditions:
- Explicit consent much be obtained
- This means we cannot simply say that all cookies are dropped until the user declines.
- GDPR states that consent must be given (using an Accept button) before cookies are dropped.
- Options must be available to modify the cookie settings when necessary.
- Cookie Policy
- Links to a cookie policy must be available on site to allow users to attain more information about the specific cookies being dropped and what they are being used for.
A standard CMP will appear on the website, looking like the image below:
The standard flow of a cookie banner is as follows
Can All Response Media help me set up a CMP?
The simple answer is yes. Here at All Response Media we have a wealth of experience across multiple CMP platforms and can support in the setup for our clients upon request. There are access and configuration discussions that will be needed to ensure we have all the information required and can complete the entire setup. Each CMP also has slightly different requirements and if needed All Response Media can research the best way to integrate a new CMP with the client’s specific tagging requirements. For clients who have their own teams setting up the CMP, we can offer support and guidance based on our experience.
If you are currently setting up a CMP or have set one up already and want to ensure that it is compliant, please contact the team here for more information on how we can help take this to the next level.
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