In August 2023, we announced that we will require partners using our Search ads publisher products (AdSense for Search, AdSense for Domains and Programmable Search Engine) to use a certified CMP that integrates with IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) when serving ads to users in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK. View the list of Google-certified CMPs.
We previously announced that we will begin to apply this requirement on 16 January 2024. This email serves as an important update that we will now begin enforcement on 1 February 2024 and are providing partners with an additional tool to serve ads in certain circumstances if consent is not available. As a reminder, as of November 2023, we have begun the process of no longer serving personalised ads.
Once enforcement begins, if you send our Search Ads publisher products an ad request for EEA or UK traffic and it does not use a Google-certified TCF CMP, the product will serve ads only if you have implemented a new parameter in your ad request that indicates that you wish to allow ads that use an invalid traffic-only cookie and local storage on both consented and unconsented traffic. Partners are legally responsible for the tools they use to gather consent, including consent for how they use cookies and local storage in online advertising. Implementing this parameter is optional. You should consider whether to implement the new parameter, taking into account legal advice, relevant regulations and applicable regulator guidance. You can learn more about implementing the new parameter (called 'ivt') via the AdSense Customised Search Ads for Web developer site, beginning 10 January 2024.
Partners who choose to implement the new parameter instead of a Google-certified TCF CMP may see a decrease in their EEA and UK revenue. If neither a Google-certified TCF CMP nor the new parameter is present, then our Search Ads publisher products will not serve any ads. If you choose to implement a Google-certified TCF CMP, review Publisher integration with the IAB TCF v2.0 to understand which TCF Purposes we rely on.
Enforcement will begin 1 February 2024 on a small percentage of EEA and UK traffic and will ramp up until we enforce across all EEA and UK traffic by end of February 2024. To minimise potential impact to your monetisation, please ensure that you have implemented a Google-certified TCF CMP by 1 February 2024.
We will continue to support your transition as you prepare for the new requirements. For further details, including the full list of Google-certified CMPs, review New Google consent management requirements for serving ads in the EEA and UK (for publishers).