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Cookiebot

Cookiebot is the consent management platform (CMP) with the highest score in our CMP ranking. The Pixel Manager integrates with it automatically. This page explains how the integration works, which settings we recommend, and the questions that come up most often in support.

Short answer​

Short answer

Cookiebot is supported and compatible with the Pixel Manager for WooCommerce, in the free and in the Pro version. Install the Cookiebot WordPress plugin ("Cookiebot by Usercentrics"), enable Explicit Consent Mode in the Pixel Manager, and leave Google Consent Mode to the Pixel Manager. Nothing else needs to be configured.

If Cookiebot's own Google Consent Mode toggle switches itself off when you save, that is the Pixel Manager doing its job. See below.

How the Pixel Manager detects Cookiebot​

The integration runs in the visitor's browser and relies on two things Cookiebot provides:

  1. The CookieConsent cookie. Cookiebot writes it when the visitor decides. It contains the four categories Cookiebot uses, necessary, preferences, statistics and marketing, which are the same four categories the Pixel Manager uses, so no mapping is needed. The Pixel Manager reads the cookie on every page load.
  2. The CookiebotOnAccept event. Cookiebot fires it on the window object when the visitor accepts. The Pixel Manager listens for it and loads the approved pixels on the same page view, without a reload.

Install modes. All support cases we have seen used the Cookiebot WordPress plugin. We recommend it over pasting the Cookiebot script yourself, for a reason beyond detection: when the plugin is active, the Pixel Manager marks its own inline configuration scripts with data-cookieconsent="ignore" and data-uc-allowed="true" so that Cookiebot's automatic script blocker leaves them alone. With a hand-pasted Cookiebot script the Pixel Manager cannot tell that Cookiebot is present on the server, the attributes are not added, and Cookiebot's autoblocker may block the Pixel Manager's configuration. If you must run Cookiebot without the plugin, use Cookiebot's manual blocking mode.

The admin card. The "Consent Management Platforms" card in the Pixel Manager settings lists Cookiebot when the WordPress plugin is active. The card is informational and has no effect on tracking. See How the Pixel Manager detects your CMP.

Cookiebot support is not a Pro feature.

  1. Install the Cookiebot WordPress plugin and let it render the banner. That is fine and intended.
  2. Enable Explicit Consent Mode in WooCommerce > Pixel Manager > Consent Management. Without it the Pixel Manager runs in implicit mode, fires pixels before the visitor answers, and Google Ads may show warnings such as "consent not managed properly" or "scripts loaded prior to consent". Details in the Consent Management overview.
  3. Enable Google Consent Mode v2 in the Pixel Manager, not in Cookiebot. The Pixel Manager initialises Google Consent Mode itself, sets the defaults to denied in Explicit Consent Mode, and sends the update after the visitor's choice. When Google Consent Mode is on in the Pixel Manager, the Pixel Manager also switches Cookiebot's own Consent Mode option off to avoid two default blocks competing on the page.
  4. Do not paste Cookiebot's Google Consent Mode snippet (the gtag('consent', 'default', ...) block Cookiebot's documentation suggests, or its url_passthrough and ads_data_redaction settings). The Pixel Manager already emits those calls. Adding them separately leads to duplicate or conflicting signals. If you want different url_passthrough behaviour, use the Pixel Manager's filter.
  5. Explicit Consent Regions: understand the trade-off before you use it. Leaving it empty applies Explicit Consent Mode to every visitor worldwide. If you list regions, visitors outside them are tracked in implicit mode, which means they have to actively decline in Cookiebot to stop tracking. This is by design, and it is the most common reason a test "shows tracking without consent": the tester was outside the listed regions. See Explicit Consent Regions.
  6. Keep "Always send server-side events" off under Server-Side > General, unless you deliberately want server-side events regardless of the banner answer.

Verify the integration​

  1. Open your shop in a private browser window, logged out of WordPress. Tracking is off for administrators by default.
  2. Append ?pmwloggeron to the URL and open the browser console. See the Console Logger guide.
  3. Before you answer the banner you should see Consent mode: explicit with all non-essential categories denied, and no Cookiebot CMP consent detected line yet, because Cookiebot writes its cookie only once the visitor decides.
  4. Click "Allow all". The Pixel Manager logs Updated consent state (source: cmp) and loads the approved pixels on the same page. On the next page load you see:
Pixel Manager: Cookiebot CMP consent detected
Pixel Manager: CMP consent applied from: Cookiebot
  1. Run pmw.consent.categories.get() in the console to read the current state.

Testing a geo-restricted banner. If Cookiebot only shows the banner in certain regions, and you test from elsewhere, append Cookiebot's own test parameter to the URL, for example ?uc_cmp_country=IT, to force the banner for that country. Otherwise you are testing in implicit mode.

Troubleshooting​

Cookiebot's Google Consent Mode toggle switches itself off when I save​

Expected. When Google Consent Mode is enabled in the Pixel Manager, the Pixel Manager forces Cookiebot's Consent Mode option off so that only one default consent block exists on the page. Leave it off. Google Consent Mode belongs in the Pixel Manager.

Both warnings appear when Google Consent Mode is on but Explicit Consent Mode is off. In that combination the Pixel Manager runs in basic Consent Mode: tags load in a limited way before consent, which is compliant but triggers Google's diagnostics. Enable Explicit Consent Mode. The Pixel Manager then sets every Google consent default to denied before any tag runs, and the warnings disappear.

Tracking happens although I declined in Cookiebot​

Check three things, in this order:

  1. Explicit Consent Regions. If regions are configured and you test from outside them, tracking is implicit for you. Test from inside a listed region, use a VPN, or empty the field.
  2. A stored decision from before. Run the test in a fresh private window. If the console says CMP consent applied from: PMW cookie/storage instead of Cookiebot, an older Pixel Manager decision saved in the browser is being used. Versions 1.66.0 and newer no longer store consent relayed from a CMP and clear old records; on older versions, run localStorage.removeItem('_pmw_persistent_data') once in the console.
  3. Deleting the cookie is not declining. Removing the CookieConsent cookie in the browser's developer tools does not fire a Cookiebot event, so the Pixel Manager keeps the last state it knows until the next page load. Decline through the banner instead.

This is the url_passthrough interaction described in Troubleshooting. It is unrelated to Cookiebot itself; Cookiebot is simply the CMP most often present when it shows up.

Hotjar or another tool loads but records nothing​

With Cookiebot present, enable Explicit Consent Mode in the Pixel Manager so that the tool loads only after consent, and make sure Cookiebot's own Consent Mode is off. Tools that load before consent and then get blocked by the CMP produce empty sessions.

Version history​

  • 1.66.0 (August 2026): consent relayed from a CMP is no longer stored by the Pixel Manager, so a Cookiebot decision is read fresh on every page load.
  • 1.43.2 (June 2024): consent given through Cookiebot is processed immediately, not only after a reload.
  • 1.42.5 (April 2024): event listener loading fix for Cookiebot.
  • 1.41.0 (March 2024): the Pixel Manager's inline scripts are excluded from Cookiebot's autoblocker, and Cookiebot's own Google Consent Mode is switched off when the Pixel Manager's is on.
  • 1.8.x (late 2021): Cookiebot support added.

When to contact support​

Send us the following so we can reproduce your setup in one pass:

  • Your store URL.
  • The debug information from WooCommerce > Pixel Manager > Support.
  • Whether Cookiebot runs as the WordPress plugin or as a hand-pasted script, and whether autoblocking or manual mode is on.
  • Your Explicit Consent Regions setting and the country you tested from.
  • Which caching, script optimisation, or tag manager plugins are active.
  • A screenshot of the browser console with ?pmwloggeron, taken in a private window while logged out of WordPress, before and after accepting the banner.

Pro customers use the support form. Free users find help in the WordPress.org support forum.

Frequently asked questions​

Is Cookiebot compatible with the Pixel Manager for WooCommerce?​

Yes. Cookiebot is supported, scores highest in our CMP ranking, and needs no configuration to be detected.

In the Pixel Manager. The Pixel Manager switches Cookiebot's option off automatically when its own is on.

Do I still need the Cookiebot WordPress plugin if I add the Cookiebot script myself?​

We recommend the plugin. It is what tells the Pixel Manager on the server that Cookiebot is present, which is needed to protect the Pixel Manager's configuration scripts from Cookiebot's autoblocker.

Why does my test show tracking before I accepted?​

Most likely you tested from outside your Explicit Consent Regions, or Explicit Consent Mode is off. See Tracking happens although I declined.

Is Cookiebot support a Pro feature?​

No. All CMP integrations are included in the free version.

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