Drop in recorded traffic after cookie banner installed?

What is a ‘normal’ traffic drop after installing a cookie banner?

While cookie banners typically reduce recorded traffic, the expected drop should be only around 10-15% for most sites. If your traffic dropped by 95% overnight, your setup is almost certainly incorrect.

GA4 report showing loss of traffic due to incorrectly installed banner

The likely reason your recorded traffic dropped

In our experience, if you’re seeing significant drops in reported traffic after installing a consent banner, your banner isn’t prominent enough. The purpose of a cookie banner is to block scripts that set cookies – such as your Google Tag – until the user consents. If the banner is too subtle, users may simply browse your site without setting preferences, meaning your analytics tags never activate, causing your reported traffic to plummet. Here’s 4 fixes to restore your reported tracking to pre-cookie banner levels.

Fix 1: Use a centered, pop-up style banner

The best way to ensure users see and interact with your consent banner is to make it impossible to miss. Choose a design that stands out – such as a popup – and place it prominently in the center of the screen, with clear options to accept or reject cookies.

You’ll be surprised how many users accept cookies. And those who would reject cookies likely already did – even with your more discreet banner.

Fix 2: Block page interaction until preferences are set

If you’re set on using a more discreet consent banner style, make sure you enable interaction blocking. This feature prevents users from scrolling, clicking links, or navigating your site until they set their cookie preferences. Most consent management platforms (CMP’s) offer this option. If yours doesn’t, consider trying our CMP. Our Cookie Consent Banner comes in several discreet styles with the ability to block interaction until preferences are provided.

Fix 3: Enable Google Consent Mode

If you haven’t set up Google Consent Mode, you should. It only takes a few minutes to set up and can significantly improve the completeness of your data. Consent Mode allows Google platforms to model the behavior of users who decline analytics cookies based on the behavior of users who accept them. This helps supported platforms – e.g. Google Analytics and Google Ads – fill data gaps caused by unobservable behavior.

Tags with built-in support for consent mode

The following Google products contain built-in consent checks and will adjust their behavior based on consent state:

• Google tag
• Google Analytics
• Google Ads (*supports conversion tracking and your data segments; support for Phone call key events pending)
• Floodlight
• Conversion Linker

Fix 4: Enable Data Modeling in GA4

Google Analytics 4 enables data modeling by default, but some businesses disable it without realizing the impact. If you want modeled data in your reports, set your reporting identity to Blended in your GA4 property. This enables modeling when a User ID or Device ID is unavailable – e.g. when consent has been denied.

How to enable modeling in Google Analytics 4

Data modelling prerequisites

To use behavioral modeling in GA4, your property must meet the following conditions:

• Consent mode must be enabled on all web pages and app screens.
• For web pages, advanced implementation of consent mode is required:
  • Tags must load before the consent banner appears.
  • Google tags must load regardless of whether the user gives consent (don’t do this unless you’re using consent mode).
• Your property must collect at least 1,000 events per day with analytics_storage=’denied’ for at least 7 days.
• Your property must have at least 1,000 daily users sending events with analytics_storage=’granted’ on at least 7 of the past 28 days.
• It may take more than 7 qualifying days to successfully train the model, and even then, the data may still be insufficient.

You can find more information about Googles behavioral modeling here – [GA4] Behavioral modeling for consent mode