How to Use Complianz to Set Up Consent Mode v2 on WordPress

The short answer: if your WordPress site runs Google Analytics or Google Ads for European visitors, Consent Mode v2 in Complianz needs Premium, $59 a year for one site (pricing page, checked on 26 October 2026), and the setup that holds goes in this order: clear out hand-placed Google scripts, run the wizard and say Tag Manager fires your statistics, add the Complianz template in Tag Manager on the Consent Initialization trigger, keep Google tags on All Pages, move other tags to Complianz consent events, keep Complianz out of script delay, and check the consent states in a private window.

Disclosure: I may earn a commission through some links on this site. It does not change what this page says.

Complianz's Consent Mode guide describes the stakes plainly: Consent Mode v2 adds two consent states, ad_user_data and ad_personalization, and Google's modelling of visitors who decline depends on it; without it, the guide warns of substantial data loss. Most failed setups are not missing a setting. They have two of something: two Tag Manager snippets, two consent defaults, a tag on the wrong trigger. This guide follows that documentation; for the plugin itself, see the Complianz glossary entry.

Before you start:

• Complianz Premium installed. The guide opens with a notice that its steps require Premium.
• Publish rights on the Tag Manager container that the site uses.
• A list of plugins that place Google tags, such as Site Kit, MonsterInsights, Google Analytics for WooCommerce or GTM4WP.
• Your caching plugin's settings, WP Rocket or LiteSpeed for example, because script delay features interfere with consent tracking.

Step 1: Clear the ground

Delete any Google or Tag Manager scripts you added by hand; Complianz will place them. If you use GTM4WP, add the container snippet through Complianz instead, switch the GTM4WP container off, and in Complianz go to Integrations, then Plugins, and disable the integrations for plugins that place Google tags. Site Kit users have a dedicated guide linked from the same page.

Step 2: Answer the Statistics question

In the Complianz wizard, go to Consent, then Statistics, and choose "Yes, and Google Tag Manager fires this script". Click Save and Continue to reach Statistics Configuration. If some options there are greyed out, an active integration such as Site Kit or MonsterInsights is the usual cause, per the guide.

Step 3: Add the container and choose the template

On Statistics Configuration, enter your Tag Manager container ID and answer Yes to the question about using the Complianz Tag Manager template. Leave "Do you want to force the script in the header?" off unless you need it; the guide warns it can break configurations and integrations with other plugins.

Step 4: Decide whether Google tags wait

The setting "Do you want to block all Google Tags before consent?" defaults to No. That is Advanced mode: Google tags load with the page and adapt to the consent state, which, the guide notes, can mean connecting to Google's servers without cookies. Answering Yes gives the Basic model, where Consent Mode acts only after consent. This is a legal choice as much as a technical one, so record who made it.

Step 5: Install the Complianz template in Tag Manager

In Tag Manager, open the container, go to Tags and click New. Click Tag Configuration, choose "Discover more tag types in the Community Template Gallery", search for ComplianZ and click Add to workspace. Keep the Default Consent State as it is; the guide says it is preset for Consent Mode v2. Give the tag the built-in Consent Initialization trigger for all pages.

Step 6: Put Google tags on All Pages

GA4 and Google Ads tags get the ordinary All Pages trigger, not Consent Initialization. Swapping the two is a common reason Consent Mode stops working: a Google tag on Consent Initialization can fire before the default consent state exists and then runs with no signal to act on, per the Consent Mode guide.

Step 7: Move every other tag to a Complianz event

Tags that do not read Consent Mode, the Meta Pixel for instance, need real prior blocking. Trigger them on the custom events Complianz pushes: cmplz_event_functional, cmplz_event_preferences, cmplz_event_statistics and cmplz_event_marketing. The Tag Manager guide covers the categories in depth, and the Consent Mode guide adds that these tags should not also carry Google's additional consent checks.

Step 8: Keep Complianz out of script delay

Caching plugins that delay JavaScript can break consent tracking, per the guide. Exclude Complianz's scripts and assets in WP Rocket, LiteSpeed or whatever you run, then clear the cache.

Step 9: Check the consent states

Open the site in a private window without touching the banner and run the guide's console check: only security_storage and functionality_storage should read granted. Click Accept All and run it again; everything should now read granted. For a deeper check, the guide points to the gcs parameter on network requests (G100, G101, G111), which shows what reaches Google under each state.

Step 10: Measure the banner itself

Premium can A/B test banner variants on consent rate, per the WordPress.org listing. Test the wording and layout once the plumbing works, never before.

Where the guide says it breaks

• Duplicate consent states or Google snippets, often added by another plugin. Disable that plugin's integration in Complianz.
• The wrong trigger on the template or on the Google tags. Template on Consent Initialization, Google tags on All Pages.
• A Tag Manager warning that the tag sits too low. Complianz says this is not the real issue when the setup is right.

Fencing Consent Mode into Premium is the plugin's business model in one line: the free version earns the install, and keeping Google's measurement working earns the $59 a year (pricing page).

FAQ

Why does Tag Manager say my tag is placed too low?

Complianz calls the warning harmless when Consent Mode v2 is set up correctly, and offers the force-in-header option for anyone who wants it gone, though the message can persist.

Which Complianz event should fire a marketing tag?

cmplz_event_marketing. Statistics tags use cmplz_event_statistics, and preference tags cmplz_event_preferences, per the Consent Mode guide.

Should Google tags be blocked before consent?

The default is No, which is Advanced mode; Yes gives the Basic model. Decide it with whoever owns privacy, because in Advanced mode Google tags load before the visitor chooses.