Create a Consent Banner

What a consent setup is

A consent setup is one banner plus its preference center: the consent model, the categories visitors can switch on and off, the wording, the look, and the cookie list. Each setup belongs to one property. A site loads it with a one-line install snippet.

Every setup has two published versions:

Saving never changes what visitors on your site see. That is deliberate: you can edit and review as often as you like, then decide when the change goes out.

Before you start

• Know the domain your site uses, for example example.com.
• If you want a link to a privacy request form in the preference center, publish a Shield intake form first and copy its URL.
• If you want consent decisions sent to Echo, create an Echo source first.

Create the setup

1. Open Shield > Consent from the sidebar and click New Consent Setup (or Create First Setup on an empty list).
2. In General, enter a Title. Visitors never see it; it only names the setup in TagPipes.
3. Optional: fill in Company Display Name (shown in the preference center header) and Company Logo URL.
4. Enter the Consent Cookie Domain as a bare domain such as example.com, with no https:// and no path. The decision is stored on this domain, so it carries across its subdomains. Leave it blank to auto-detect. This domain is also what the cookie scanner crawls.
5. If the same banner runs on other domains that should share one decision, list them in Linked Domains (Cross-Domain Consent), one per line. Install the same setup on every listed domain.
6. Pick the Consent Model: Automatic by location, Always opt-in or Always opt-out. See Consent Setup Settings for what each does.
7. Set the Theme: Banner layout, Corner radius (px) and the Accent (buttons), Background and Text colors. The Live Banner Preview on the right updates as you type; switch between Opt-out view and Opt-in view to see both banners.
8. Review Consent Categories. A new setup starts with four: Strictly Necessary (locked), Analytics, Marketing and Functional. Rename, reorder, add or remove categories, and pick the Google Signals each one grants. At least one category must stay locked.
9. Edit Banner Messages, Preference Center Text and Links if you want your own wording. Blank preference center fields use the built-in text shown as the placeholder.
10. Click Save & Publish Preview. You are taken back to the Consent list while the preview builds.

Review the preview

On the Consent list the Preview column shows Preparing preview... for a minute or two, then Open preview. The hosted preview is fully interactive: switch regions and languages, test the Global Privacy Control signal and watch the consent signals change. Nothing on your site changes while you do this.

The Status column shows where the setup stands:

The Last Published column shows when the setup last went live, with a Draft changes badge when you have saved edits that live sites have not received yet, or Not live if it has never been published.

Publish live

1. On Shield > Consent, click the upload icon (Publish Live) in the setup's Actions column.
2. Confirm in the dialog.

Sites with the install snippet receive the new configuration within minutes. The publish is recorded in Change History with your name. Then install the banner if you have not already.

Other actions on the list

Check it worked

• The Preview column shows Open preview, and the preview shows your wording and colors.
• After Publish Live, the Last Published column shows the time and no Draft changes badge.
• On the edit page, the Config JSON (SDK contract) link under Publish Status opens without an error. It returns an error until the first Publish Live.

Troubleshooting