Google Signals vs Consent Mode in GA4: What Actually Changed on 15 June 2026

If you own the GA4 or GTM stack for a UK or EEA site, one recent change deserves an hour of your attention.

What actually changed

Before 15 June 2026, turning off Google Signals also blocked ad data from reaching Google Ads. That behaviour is gone. Google Signals now only affects reporting inside GA4, such as cross-device users and demographic dimensions.

The single control for Google Ads data flow is now the ad_storage parameter inside Google Consent Mode v2. If it is set to granted, ad data reaches Google Ads regardless of the Google Signals toggle.

Consent Mode has four signals

You will need each one mapped correctly in your CMP:

• ad_storage: advertising cookies
• analytics_storage: analytics cookies
• ad_user_data: sends user data to Google for ads
• ad_personalization: personalised ad targeting

Missing or wrong defaults on any of these are the most common cause of silent tracking loss.

Behavioural modelling thresholds

GA4 fills gaps with modelled data when consent is denied. To activate this, your property needs at least 1,000 daily events with analytics_storage=denied for seven days and 1,000 daily users with analytics_storage=granted for seven of the last 28 days.

If your traffic is lower, modelling will not kick in and denied traffic will simply be missing.

Fix path

1. Set default consent to denied for all four parameters before any tag fires.
2. Update to granted only after the user accepts through the banner.
3. Test firing order with GA4 DebugView and Google Tag Assistant.
4. Confirm the GA4 to Google Ads link still reports conversions.

A tested Google-certified banner from Seers handles the four signal mapping without custom code. The full walk-through of both features is in the Seers guide on GA4 Consent Mode and Google Signals.