Google Tag Manager

There are two ways to use CookieBoss with Google Tag Manager. They work together.

• CookieBoss Consent Mode tag template (recommended for Google tags). A tag you fire on Consent Initialization - All Pages. It loads the CookieBoss banner and runs Google Consent Mode v2: denied defaults, optional regional defaults, an immediate update for returning visitors, and an update on every banner choice. See CookieBoss for Google Tag Manager for setup.
• dataLayer events (this page). CookieBoss pushes consent events to the GTM dataLayer so you can fire other tags only when the visitor has given consent.

Quick setup: Import our GTM container

Skip the manual configuration below by importing our pre-built container template. It includes all the triggers, variables, and an example GA4 tag.

1. Download GTM Template
2. In GTM, go to Admin > Import Container
3. Choose the downloaded file
4. Select Merge and Rename conflicting tags, triggers, and variables
5. Review the imported items and click Confirm
6. Update the example GA4 tag with your Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXXXX)
7. Preview, test, and Publish

Prerequisites

• GTM enabled in your CookieBoss banner settings
• The CookieBoss script loaded before the GTM container script

How it works

When a visitor interacts with the consent banner, CookieBoss pushes three types of events to window.dataLayer:

Each event includes the full consent state:

{
"event": "cookieboss_consent_update",
"cookieboss": {
  "siteId": "01KHJTD0CZG42333Z4P3F6X7Z4",
  "consent": {
    "necessary": true,
    "analytics": true,
    "marketing": false,
    "functional": true
  }
}
}

Step 1: Create Data Layer Variables

In GTM, go to Variables > New > Data Layer Variable and create these variables:

Step 2: Create a Custom Event Trigger

Go to Triggers > New > Custom Event:

• Event name: cookieboss_consent_update
• This trigger fires on: All Custom Events

Name it CB - Consent Update.

Step 3: Add Firing Conditions to Tags

For each tag that requires consent, add a firing condition:

Example: Google Analytics tag

• Trigger: CB - Consent Update
• Condition: CB - Analytics Consent equals true

Example: Meta Pixel tag

• Trigger: CB - Consent Update
• Condition: CB - Marketing Consent equals true

Step 4: Handle returning visitors

For visitors who already gave consent on a previous visit, CookieBoss fires cookieboss_consent_update automatically on page load with their stored preferences. Your GTM triggers will fire accordingly — no extra configuration needed.