Microsoft Consent Mode: what you need to know to protect your campaigns

In March 2024, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into effect in Europe, a law that benefits both businesses and consumers. Before the introduction of this law, advertisers were responsible for collecting data through platforms such as Google Ads, Meta, and Microsoft. This often led to confusion and potential fines. Since the introduction of the DMA, the major advertising platforms, such as Google and Microsoft, are responsible for collecting this data. 

To ensure that data is collected according to the law, Google introduced Google Consent Mode in 2020. This application sends signals to Google Ads and Google Analytics 4, among others, to indicate whether cookies are accepted or not. These signals are often integrated into certified Consent Management Platforms (CMPs). This way, Google maintains control over which data is collected or not. 

Microsoft now comes with its own system: Microsoft Consent Mode. 

Microsoft Consent Mode works in the same way as the Google version. Both systems send a signal to their platforms as soon as cookies are accepted or not, so that it can be determined which data may be collected. Google Consent Mode works with various parameters, while Microsoft works with just 2 statuses: Granted and Denied. 

• Granted: data is collected. 

• Denied: limited or no data is collected. 

Technical readers will find this status in the request under the "asc" parameter sent to Microsoft – G for Granted and D for Denied.