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  <title>The Velo journal</title>
  <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog</link>
  <description>Field notes on cookie consent, Google Consent Mode v2, lost conversions and compliant measurement, from the team behind Velo.</description>
  <language>en</language>
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  <lastBuildDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</lastBuildDate>
  <item>
    <title>Cookie consent platform pricing: per subpage, per domain, per session or flat</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/cookie-consent-pricing-per-subpage-or-flat-rate</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/cookie-consent-pricing-per-subpage-or-flat-rate</guid>
    <pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Four pricing models are in the market, and two numbers about your own estate decide which is cheapest. How to work them out, and why your session count is wrong.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Google Consent Mode on Squarespace: what the platform gives you and what it does not</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/squarespace-google-consent-mode</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/squarespace-google-consent-mode</guid>
    <pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Squarespace's native banner blocks analytics cookies but emits no Consent Mode signals. The code injection that bridges it, and four platform limits nobody documents.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Which consent category does each third party script belong in?</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-consent-category-should-a-script-go-in</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-consent-category-should-a-script-go-in</guid>
    <pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Assign consent categories by what the script does for the visitor, not by vendor. The decision test, the four genuinely ambiguous cases, and what guessing costs.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Can you be fined for not having a cookie banner?</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/can-you-be-fined-for-not-having-a-cookie-banner</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/can-you-be-fined-for-not-having-a-cookie-banner</guid>
    <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Not for the banner itself. Penalties attach to storing cookies that need consent without it, so a site setting only strictly necessary cookies needs no banner.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Choosing a cookie consent platform when your agency manages multiple client sites</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/cookie-consent-platform-for-agencies-managing-multiple-client-sites</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/cookie-consent-platform-for-agencies-managing-multiple-client-sites</guid>
    <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Judge a consent platform for a portfolio on what one policy change costs across every site, not on the feature list. The four questions that actually decide it.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Why the Facebook pixel is still loading when your tags are blocked</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/why-the-facebook-pixel-still-loads-when-your-tags-are-blocked</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/why-the-facebook-pixel-still-loads-when-your-tags-are-blocked</guid>
    <pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Your consent tool gates the tags in your container. A pixel injected at runtime by another vendor's script was never in it, which is why gating harder changes nothing.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>What consent modelling is, and when Google actually switches it on</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-is-consent-modelling-and-when-does-it-start</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-is-consent-modelling-and-when-does-it-start</guid>
    <pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Consent modelling estimates what declined visitors did. It starts only when your property clears Google's published thresholds, and most sites never do.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How long does cookie consent last, and when should the banner ask again</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-long-does-cookie-consent-last</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-long-does-cookie-consent-last</guid>
    <pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>The GDPR sets no expiry for cookie consent. What decides when your banner reappears is how long the browser keeps the record you stored.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>What happens to a Google Ads conversion when ad_user_data is denied</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-happens-to-a-google-ads-conversion-when-ad-user-data-is-denied</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-happens-to-a-google-ads-conversion-when-ad-user-data-is-denied</guid>
    <pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>A denied ad_user_data does not stop the conversion happening. It changes what Google receives about it, and which counter it can land in.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>What the gcd parameter means, and what it proves that gcs cannot</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-does-the-gcd-parameter-mean</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-does-the-gcd-parameter-mean</guid>
    <pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>gcd encodes all four Consent Mode signals and how each state was reached, so it separates a refused signal from one nobody wired. How to read it, and its limits.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>The difference between ad_user_data and ad_personalization</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/ad-user-data-vs-ad-personalization</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/ad-user-data-vs-ad-personalization</guid>
    <pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>ad_user_data governs sending user data to Google for advertising; ad_personalization governs using it for personalised ads. Which stops remarketing, and how to check.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Why do tags fire before the cookie banner loads</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/why-do-tags-fire-before-the-cookie-banner-loads</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/why-do-tags-fire-before-the-cookie-banner-loads</guid>
    <pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Another tag is sharing the Consent Initialization trigger and winning the race. Priority does not fix it: tags still fire asynchronously. How to see the real order.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Can you still build remarketing audiences if visitors reject cookies</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/can-you-build-remarketing-audiences-if-visitors-reject-cookies</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/can-you-build-remarketing-audiences-if-visitors-reject-cookies</guid>
    <pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>No, not from the visitors who rejected: a denied advertising signal means no identifier, so they never enter a remarketing list. Here is what still works instead.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How to test a cookie banner before going live</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-to-test-a-cookie-banner-before-going-live</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-to-test-a-cookie-banner-before-going-live</guid>
    <pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Test a cookie banner on staging before launch: does it appear, block before consent, carry the right consent signal, record the choice, and survive a return visit.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How do you prove a visitor gave consent</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-do-you-prove-a-visitor-gave-consent</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-do-you-prove-a-visitor-gave-consent</guid>
    <pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>You prove it with a consent record you can retrieve for one visitor on one date. What the record has to contain, and the three ways it quietly goes missing.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How much does a consent management platform cost in 2026</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-much-does-a-consent-management-platform-cost</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-much-does-a-consent-management-platform-cost</guid>
    <pubDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Most sites pay nothing to a few hundred a month, and monthly sessions decide where you land. What the tiers cost, and the setup work that is not on the pricing page.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>What is the TCF, and does your site need it</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-is-the-tcf-and-does-your-site-need-it</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-is-the-tcf-and-does-your-site-need-it</guid>
    <pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>The TCF is how the advertising supply chain records and passes consent. Most sites do not need it. Here is the test for whether yours does.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>GDPR cookie banner requirements in 2026, and the check that proves each one</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/gdpr-cookie-banner-requirements-2026</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/gdpr-cookie-banner-requirements-2026</guid>
    <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>The things a GDPR cookie banner must do in 2026, each paired with the browser check that proves your own banner actually does it.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Why Google Ads and GA4 report different conversion numbers</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/why-google-ads-and-ga4-report-different-conversions</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/why-google-ads-and-ga4-report-different-conversions</guid>
    <pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Google Ads and GA4 count different things, so a gap is normal. Which part of it is structural, which part is consent, and how to tell how much of yours is which.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How to pass the consent signal to a server side tagging container</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-to-pass-consent-signal-server-side-tagging</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/how-to-pass-consent-signal-server-side-tagging</guid>
    <pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Consent is decided in the web container and rides to the server on the request. The wiring, how to verify it arrived, and the failure that puts the identifier back.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How to check your cookie banner is sending the Consent Mode v2 signal</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/check-cookie-banner-consent-mode-v2-signal</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/check-cookie-banner-consent-mode-v2-signal</guid>
    <pubDate>Sun, 26 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Two reads settle it: the four consent signals inside the browser, and the state that actually reached Google on the request. Here is how to check both.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Can Google Analytics work without cookies</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/can-google-analytics-work-without-cookies</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/can-google-analytics-work-without-cookies</guid>
    <pubDate>Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Yes, but only in a narrower sense than the question implies. GA4 still collects without cookies; what it stops doing is recognising anyone. Here is what survives.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>What happens to your GA4 data when users reject cookies</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-happens-to-ga4-data-when-users-reject-cookies</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-happens-to-ga4-data-when-users-reject-cookies</guid>
    <pubDate>Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>What GA4 keeps and what it loses when a visitor rejects cookies, why the answer depends on your Consent Mode, and the part of the gap modelling never fills.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Do you still need a cookie banner with server side tagging</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/do-you-still-need-a-cookie-banner-with-server-side-tagging</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/do-you-still-need-a-cookie-banner-with-server-side-tagging</guid>
    <pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Yes. Server side tagging moves where your tags run, not whether you may collect the data, so the banner and the consent duty stay. Here is what moves and what does not.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Why your GA4 traffic shows as Unassigned after adding a cookie banner</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/ga4-unassigned-traffic-after-cookie-banner</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/ga4-unassigned-traffic-after-cookie-banner</guid>
    <pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Unassigned is traffic GA4 collected and could not attribute. After a banner it has three causes: late consent, a missing session start, or denied pings being identified.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>White label cookie consent for agencies: what actually matters</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/white-label-cookie-consent-for-agencies</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/white-label-cookie-consent-for-agencies</guid>
    <pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>White labelling a cookie banner is the easy part. What decides a client roster is who owns the consent record, where the logs go, and whether measurement survives.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>What is Global Privacy Control, and do you have to honour it</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-is-global-privacy-control</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-is-global-privacy-control</guid>
    <pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Global Privacy Control is a browser signal that says do not sell or share my data. What it is, which US states make it binding, and how to check your own site honours it.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Do cookie banners slow down your website</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/do-cookie-banners-slow-down-your-website</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/do-cookie-banners-slow-down-your-website</guid>
    <pubDate>Sun, 19 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>A cookie banner can slow your site, but the banner script is rarely the expensive part. What it releases on accept is. How to measure both paths honestly.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How to raise cookie consent accept rates without dark patterns</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/raise-consent-accept-rates-without-dark-patterns</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/raise-consent-accept-rates-without-dark-patterns</guid>
    <pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>The honest levers that raise cookie consent accept rates: plain language, equal buttons, granular categories, a fast banner and a measured baseline.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Do you actually need a cookie banner on your website</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/do-i-need-a-cookie-banner-on-my-website</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/do-i-need-a-cookie-banner-on-my-website</guid>
    <pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>When your website needs a cookie banner, when it does not, and the question the checklists skip: whether the banner quietly costs you analytics data.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>What is a consent management platform (and when do you need one)</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-is-a-consent-management-platform</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/what-is-a-consent-management-platform</guid>
    <pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>A consent management platform captures what visitors allow, proves it, and passes that choice to your analytics and ad tags. What it does, and when you need one.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Basic vs advanced Consent Mode: which one are you running</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/basic-vs-advanced-consent-mode-which-am-i-running</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/basic-vs-advanced-consent-mode-which-am-i-running</guid>
    <pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Deny consent in incognito and read the gcs parameter on Google's request. A request that still fires is advanced Consent Mode; nothing means basic, or a broken tag.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How to install a cookie banner with Google Tag Manager</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/install-cookie-banner-google-tag-manager</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/install-cookie-banner-google-tag-manager</guid>
    <pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>Install your consent banner as the first thing Tag Manager does, on the Consent Initialization trigger, defaulted to denied. Plus how to check it fired before GA4.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>How to recover the conversions your cookie banner is costing you</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/recover-conversions-lost-to-cookie-consent</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/recover-conversions-lost-to-cookie-consent</guid>
    <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>When visitors reject cookies you lose the attribution, not the traffic, and most of it is recoverable. The exact order to win it back, and how to check it worked.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>A plain English guide to Consent Mode v2</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/consent-mode-v2-plain-english</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/consent-mode-v2-plain-english</guid>
    <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>What the four consent signals mean, why basic and advanced implementations are not the same thing, and how to tell which one your site is actually running.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Why your GA4 conversions dropped overnight</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/ga4-conversions-dropped-overnight</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/ga4-conversions-dropped-overnight</guid>
    <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>A banner change, a tag that fires too early, a region rule that flipped. The usual suspects when GA4 numbers fall and nobody touched the campaigns.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Where 34% of your sessions actually go</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/where-34-percent-of-sessions-go</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/where-34-percent-of-sessions-go</guid>
    <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>A third of visitors sit behind the cookie banner and never reach your reports. What happens to that traffic, and how Consent Mode v2 and modelled conversions fill the gap.</description>
  </item>
  <item>
    <title>Reject all should be one click, here is why</title>
    <link>https://veloconsent.com/blog/reject-all-one-click</link>
    <guid isPermaLink="true">https://veloconsent.com/blog/reject-all-one-click</guid>
    <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <description>The banner design choice regulators keep flagging, what a fair banner looks like, and why a clearer first view tends to lift consent rates rather than lower them.</description>
  </item>
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