Understanding GA4’s new Consent Settings feature: a comprehensive guide for healthcare

24th Mar 2025

In this article, we will be looking at:

• What the Consent Settings hub looks like
• The features contained in the Consent Settings hub
• Where to find this new feature in GA4
• Why the Consent Settings hub is important for healthcare website owners
• How to use the new feature for your own healthcare or pharma website

So let’s get started…

What is the GA4 Consent Settings Hub?

The new Consent Settings area in the Admin section of GA4 is a centralised hub for website owners, where they can learn about (and manage) consent settings on their website. 

In the Consent Settings hub, you have the ability to:

• Check if GA4 is receiving consent signals across your property streams
• View the percentage of traffic and conversions coming to your site from visitors in the EEA (European Economic Area)
• Identify issues with consent signals that could negatively impact your analytics in GA4 and other Google products

Let’s navigate to the Consent Settings hub so that we can begin to explore each section and how it can help us.

Where to find the GA4 Consent Settings Hub

1. To find the Consent Settings Hub in GA4, you must first use the gear icon at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar to navigate to the Admin area. 

2. Once at the Admin area, find the tile that is titled Data collection and modification, then in this section click on Consent Settings. 

Now that you’ve made it to the hub, we’ll review each area, looking at what it means and how we can use it.

What information is in the Consent Settings Hub in GA4?

When you open the Consent Settings Hub, at the top of the page, you will have the option to select a Data Stream. In the case that you have multiple streams in your property, select one to begin to manage the consent settings for that stream. 

Next to this, if you do not have consent signals set up, you will be shown information about the percent of traffic and conversions on your healthcare site that are originating from visitors from the EEA. This will help you gauge the impact on your analytics if you do not adhere to the consent policy enforced by Google. 

If your setup is properly configured and working correctly, instead of this, you will see a green tick and text saying “Receiving consent signals”. 

Below this, there are 2 sections to help you to diagnose issues with consent signals on your healthcare website. These sections are where you may be alerted by GA4 about potential problems with your consent signal set up. They are split into:

1. Behavioural analytics consent signals

This signal relates to measurement of analytics about user behaviour, such as engagement and event tracking on your website. It is also used for behavioural modelling (where users decline consent). 

The cookie parameter that this section is focused on is “analytics_storage”. If your site does not send the required consent signals related to this parameter, GA4 will flag this section by stating “Missing 1 consent signal”. 

2. Advertising consent signals

This section covers each of the consent signals related to advertising. These are “ad_storage”, “ad_user_data” and “ad_personalisation”. In the Consent Settings hub, you’ll get an indication about if each signal is working. Next to each of these signals, Google outlines the impact of missing or broken signals in your advertising. For example, issues in measurement of Google Ads, demographics and interest insights, audience remarketing and conversion tracking. 

In these sections, GA4 makes it very clear if your signals are working or missing. If they are working, then in the top right corner of the section will be a green statement saying “Active” and there will be ticks next to each signal. This means that when granted consent by HCPs or patients, you will be able to collect data about their use of your site. If there is an issue with the signals, there will be a grey statement saying “Consent Signals Inactive” in the top right corner of the section. Each of the missing signals will have icons with an “i” next to them. 

Below these sections is an “Additional Consent Settings” area where you can select your default consent labels for end-user data from the EAA. Here, you can choose which Google services can receive consented data. These settings are important and allow you to control how data is collected and used, so make sure you take the time to read through these fully before making your selection. These options were previously available in another location in the Admin section of GA4. 

Why is the GA4 Consent Settings Hub important for your healthcare website?

The new Consent Settings Hub in GA4 is important for your website for 3 main reasons:

1. It is a really easy way to help you monitor if your healthcare site/sites are compliant with consent regulations if you have visitors from the EEA.  
2. The Consent Settings area of GA4 lets you know if your consent signals are properly configured and flags any issues. This can help you to diagnose which cookie parameters are causing your consent issues. 
3. Knowing both of the above are crucial for ensuring that you can continue to maintain accurate tracking, as if there are issues with your consent configuration, it could cause issues for data accuracy and availability. 

What to do if the Consent Settings Hub is showing missing signals?

If the Consent Settings hub in GA4 shows that you are missing any consent signals, there are a few simple questions you can ask:

1. Do you have a consent banner on your healthcare website?
   If YES, this is a great start, move on to the next question.
   If NO, ideally you would use a Google-certified consent management platform (see Google’s list of CMPs here) to set one up, or you may choose to create your own. 

2. Have you enabled consent mode in the settings of your banner?

If YES, it might be worth checking all of the other settings to check they are all as you expect, and also checking with your developers that the consent banner is coded correctly on the site. 

If NO, ensure you have enabled consent mode in your banner settings, or if you have created your own banner, make sure it is suitable for consent mode V2. 

3. Are you still having problems with your consent signals?

Let us help you! At Varn we have helped several clients to diagnose issues with their consent signals ensuring that proper consent is collected, and pulls through to GA4. More information about our compliance services can be found here. 

Key takeaways

Don’t have time to read the full article? Or perhaps you are just looking for the answer to a niggling question? These quick fire questions are for you…

1. What is the Consent Settings tab in GA4?

An area of the Admin section in GA4 that lets you monitor the consent signals on your website. 

2. How do I find the Consent Settings hub in GA4?

In the left-hand sidebar, click on Admin, then navigate to Data Collection and Modification, and then select Consent Settings. 

3. How can the Consent settings hub help my healthcare site be more compliant?

The Consent settings hub in GA4 clearly shows you which of your consent signals are configured correctly and which are missing. This helps you to diagnose any issues in your consent banner, ensuring it is working to avoid any issues with your data and keeping you compliant. 

4. What do I do if consent signals are missing?

If consent signals are shown as missing in the Consent Settings area, you should check that you have a consent banner on your site and that it has consent mode enabled. If you cannot find the issue, the expert team at Varn can help you!

5. How long does it take for changes to show in the Consent settings hub?

After you have made any changes to the consent configuration on your site, it could take GA4 up to 3 days for the Consent Settings hub to update. 

As data privacy and consent continue to become more of a focus, the Consent Settings hub is going to be such a key part of checking your site’s configuration is compliant and your analytics are accurate. 

So now that you know all about the new Consent Settings hub in GA4, how about logging into GA4 and checking it out for your healthcare website!