# Squarespace cookie banner and Google Consent Mode v2

What Squarespace's built-in banner tells Google, what it leaves out, how to check your site, and two ways out if Google Ads says signals are missing.

_Shaun Brown · October 2, 2026 · https://tagsentry.ai/blog/squarespace-cookie-banner-consent-mode_

> **The short answer:** Squarespace's own cookie banner holds Squarespace's cookies and passes consent to Google Analytics when you connect it through Squarespace's built-in integration. On its own it sends no Consent Mode signals to Google Ads, or to any Google tag you pasted into code injection. You can add Google's sample code under the banner, or switch the banner off and put a Consent Mode v2 tool first in your Header code.

> **Not legal advice** This guide describes how Squarespace's banner and Google's signals work. Whether your site needs a banner, and what kind, depends on where your visitors are. Ask a lawyer if you need a definite answer.

## The four signals, in plain English

Google Consent Mode is a set of signals your site sends to Google's tags before they run, each one `granted` or `denied`. Version 2 added the last two, and Google asks for them for visitors in the European Economic Area (EEA). There's a fuller walkthrough in [Google Consent Mode v2, explained](/blog/google-consent-mode-v2-explained).

| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| `ad_storage` | May Google's ad tags save cookies on this visitor's device? |
| `analytics_storage` | May Google Analytics save cookies, for things like visit length? |
| `ad_user_data` | May data about this visitor be sent to Google for advertising? |
| `ad_personalization` | May that data be used for personalised ads and remarketing? |

When Google Ads says consent signals are missing, one or more of these usually never reached the tag.

## What Squarespace's banner covers

As of October 2026, Squarespace's help center describes three things the built-in banner does.

- **Holds Squarespace's own non-essential cookies** (its analytics cookies) until the visitor accepts.
- **Passes consent to Google Analytics**, but only when you added your measurement ID under **Settings › Developer tools › External API keys**. Squarespace tells you to save the ID, switch the banner on and turn on the Decline all button.
- **Works with YouTube's own consent handling** when the banner offers accept and decline.

It also restricts cookies from "some third-party services connected to your site, but not all", in Squarespace's words.

## What it doesn't cover

**Google tags you pasted yourself.** If you added Google Ads or Google Analytics through code injection, Squarespace sends nothing to them by default. Its help page points you to code samples and says its support team can't help with custom code.

**Which signals the built-in integration sends.** As of October 2026 we found no Squarespace page listing the exact signals its Google Analytics integration sets. The check below shows them on your own site.

**Other scripts in code injection.** A Meta Pixel or Hotjar snippet ignores Consent Mode entirely. Squarespace says the banner restricts some third-party services, not all, and recommends a specialist consent tool if you use third-party cookies.

**Different rules for different countries.** Squarespace's banner help pages describe one set of banner settings for the whole site, and we found no per-country option in them. If you're unsure whether US visitors need a banner at all, see [do I need a cookie banner in the US](/blog/do-i-need-a-cookie-banner-us).

## About the claim that it skips two signals

Some third-party guides say Squarespace's banner "doesn't send `ad_user_data` or `ad_personalization`." The primary sources back a narrower version of that.

Google's own Squarespace setup page says that if you use Google Ads through code injection, you need "an additional step that requires consent mode": a script you paste above your Google Ads code. That script reads the visitor's marketing choice from the banner and sets `ad_storage`, `ad_user_data` and `ad_personalization`.

So as of October 2026, for Google tags in code injection, the banner sends none of the four signals unless you add that code. Google's sample then sets all three ad signals from the one marketing choice. It doesn't set `analytics_storage` at all.

## A quick check of your own site

1. Open your site in a private window, logged out (Squarespace hides the banner when you're logged in).
2. Open Google's Tag Assistant (tagassistant.google.com), or open the browser's network panel filtered to `google`.
3. Before you touch the banner, look at the consent state. Tag Assistant shows `ad_storage`, `analytics_storage`, `ad_user_data` and `ad_personalization`. If any is missing, that's your gap.
4. Click decline, reload, and check that the values changed to `denied`.

In Google Ads, open **Goals › Conversions › Summary**, pick a website conversion and open **Diagnostics** to see whether consent mode is implemented. Google says the status can take 48 hours to appear.

## Option 1: keep Squarespace's banner

This is the least work. It's fine if all you run is Google Analytics through the built-in integration and you have no ad tags.

If you also run Google Ads through code injection, paste Google's sample code at the top of the Header field, above your Google Ads snippet. You'll be living with these gaps:

- All three ad signals follow one marketing switch.
- `analytics_storage` isn't set by that code, so injected Analytics tags get no instruction.
- Non-Google scripts may still run before a choice.
- The same banner shows to every visitor, wherever they are.
- Any fault in the code is yours to fix.

## Option 2: switch it off and use a Consent Mode v2 tool

1. In **Cookies & Data Privacy**, switch off the toggle beside **Cookie banner**, so visitors see one banner, not two.
2. Go to **Settings › Developer tools › Code injection** (on some sites, **Website › Website tools › Code injection**).
3. Paste your consent tool's line at the very top of **Header**, above every Google tag and pixel.
4. Save, then repeat the quick check above.

The order matters, because Google's guidance is that consent code run out of order leaves the defaults not working. Code injection needs the Core, Plus or Advanced plan, or some legacy plans. Platform-by-platform steps are in [install by platform](/docs/install-by-platform).

You'll have one thing to decide. With the banner off, Squarespace's own analytics cookies follow the **Non-essential cookies** setting under Advanced Privacy settings. Choosing Restrict there turns them off for everyone. Ask your consent tool whether it covers Squarespace's own cookies.

## Side by side, as of October 2026

| | Squarespace banner | A Consent Mode v2 tool |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics via built-in integration | Consent passed, signals not documented | Should set all four before Google's tags run |
| Google Ads in code injection | Only with Google's sample code | Should set all four before Google's tags run |
| `analytics_storage` for injected tags | Not set by Google's sample | Set |
| Ad signals | One marketing choice for all three | Depends on the tool |
| Non-Google scripts (Meta, Hotjar) | Some restricted, not all | Depends on the tool; check it holds them |
| Different banner by country | No per-country option documented | Depends on the tool |
| Support for the code | Outside Squarespace's support | The tool's own support |
| Cost | Included in your plan | Varies, some free |

## Where TagSentry fits

TagSentry is one line at the top of your Squarespace Header. It sets Google Consent Mode v2 defaults before any tag runs and shows the right consent for every country, with a "Your Privacy Choices" link in most of the US.

It's free to 5,000 decisions a month. See [Consent](/consent), or how it fits a [small business](/use-cases/small-business).

## Sources

- [Squarespace Help: Providing cookie consent options with a banner](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206545727-Providing-cookie-consent-options-with-a-banner)
- [Squarespace Help: The cookies Squarespace uses](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001264507-The-cookies-Squarespace-uses)
- [Squarespace Help: Customize parts of your site with code injection](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205815908-Customize-parts-of-your-site-with-code-injection)
- [Squarespace Help: Connect Google Analytics to your site](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205815608-Connect-Google-Analytics-to-your-site)
- [Google Ads Help: Set up Squarespace to obtain user consent](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/14562974?hl=en)
- [Google for Developers: Consent mode concepts](https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/security/concepts/consent-mode)
- [Google for Developers: Set up consent mode on websites](https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/security/guides/consent)
- [Google Ads Help: Verify consent mode implementation](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/14218557)
- [Google Ads Help: Resources for privacy changes for traffic in the EEA](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/14625550?hl=en)