Cookie consent categories explained: necessary to marketing
The four cookie consent categories – Necessary, Functional, Statistics and Marketing – what belongs in each, and how they map to Consent Mode.
On this page
Omea Consent groups cookies and scripts into four categories. Visitors accept or reject each one in the preferences window, and every script, cookie and embed on your site belongs to one of them.
The four categories
| Category | What belongs here | Visitor can switch off? |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary | Things the site can’t work without: security, the shopping cart, the consent choice itself | No – always on |
| Functional | Features that remember choices or add functionality: language, chat widgets, embedded tools | Yes |
| Statistics | Measuring how visitors use the site: Google Analytics, Clarity, Matomo | Yes |
| Marketing | Advertising and tracking across sites: Meta Pixel, Google Ads, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube embeds | Yes |
The default descriptions visitors see:
- Necessary – “These are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off.”
- Functional – “These support site features like remembering preferences and enabling enhanced functionality.”
- Statistics – “These help us understand how visitors interact with the website.”
- Marketing – “These are used to deliver personalized advertisements.”
Change the labels and descriptions under Omea Consent › Settings › Categories. Translations work through Polylang or WPML.
How categories connect to everything else
Each category drives several things at once:
| Category | Google Consent Mode | WP Consent API | HubSpot | Microsoft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Necessary | security_storage |
– | – | – |
| Functional | functionality_storage, personalization_storage |
functional |
functionality | – |
| Statistics | analytics_storage |
statistics |
analytics | Clarity analytics_Storage |
| Marketing | ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization |
marketing |
advertisement | UET and Clarity ad_Storage |
Each card on the Categories tab shows its Google Consent Mode types, so you can see the mapping where you edit the text.
Choosing a category for a script
When you add a script under Omea Consent › Scripts, you must pick its category – there’s no default. The script then runs only after the visitor accepts that category. Pick Necessary only for code the site truly can’t work without, because it runs for everyone. More in Add tracking scripts that wait for consent.
Categories in the cookie table
Each cookie from a scan gets a category too. Change it under Omea Consent › Cookies – the cookie policy groups cookies under your category labels. Cookies with no category appear as Uncategorized until you choose one.
Hide the banner for some roles
Also on the Categories tab: Hide banner for roles. Logged-in users with the roles you tick never see the banner, and the scripts and tags Omea manages don’t run for them. Tags your theme or other plugins add are not blocked for them.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add my own consent categories?
Not in the settings – the banner always has the four standard categories, which is what visitors and regulators expect. You can rename them and change their descriptions under Settings › Categories.
Are optional categories switched on by default?
No. Functional, Statistics and Marketing start switched off in the preferences window. Only Necessary is always on.
Where do Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity belong?
Statistics, since they measure how visitors use the site. Omea’s auto-blocking holds Hotjar as Marketing by default; Clarity gets its consent signal from both Statistics and Marketing.