Google Tag Manager consent mode on WordPress

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a container: it loads other tags. Consent Mode v2 covers the Google tags inside it, but GTM can also hold Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn or Hotjar tags that know nothing about Google’s signals. That’s why Omea Consent lets you decide when the container itself loads.

Two ways to load GTM

	After the visitor’s first consent (default)	Right away with Consent Mode
When GTM loads	After the visitor accepts any optional category	On page load, before a choice
Google tags in the container	Run with the visitor’s choice	Run with denied defaults and send cookieless pings until consent
Non-Google tags	Can still fire on anything after consent – use triggers	Fire immediately unless you add consent checks
Best for	Containers with tags you haven’t audited	Containers where every tag respects consent

Either way, Omea Consent prints the Consent Mode defaults first and pushes an omea_consent_update event to the dataLayer whenever the visitor chooses.

With Omea Consent Pro (recommended)

1. Go to Omea Consent › Integrations and switch on Google Tag Manager.
2. Enter your Container ID (GTM-XXXXXXX).
3. Under the card, choose After the visitor’s first consent (safest) or Right away with Consent Mode.
4. Click Save changes.

Right away with Consent Mode only applies in advanced Consent Mode. In basic mode, GTM always waits for consent. See advanced vs basic.

The card’s own warning is worth repeating: load right away only if every tag in the container respects consent. Google tags follow Consent Mode on their own; other tags need Additional consent checks (for example ad_storage) or a consent trigger in GTM.

With the free plugin

• GTM pasted into Scripts. Paste the GTM head snippet into Omea Consent › Scripts and give it a category – it loads after the visitor accepts that category. See Add tracking scripts that wait for consent.
• GTM added by your theme or another plugin. It loads right away. With auto-blocking on, Omea holds it until the visitor accepts any optional category. To let it load right away instead, turn on Allow Google Tag Manager before consent in the auto-blocking card under Settings › Advanced – the same setting as Pro’s Right away with Consent Mode.

Make non-Google tags consent-aware in GTM

If GTM loads right away, each non-Google tag must wait for consent:

1. In GTM, open the tag and go to Advanced Settings › Consent Settings.
2. Choose Require additional consent for tag to fire and add the type it needs – ad_storage for advertising pixels, analytics_storage for analytics.
3. Publish the container.

GTM then holds the tag until Omea Consent sends that signal as granted.

Use Omea’s dataLayer event as a trigger

Every choice pushes omea_consent_update to the dataLayer. Create a Custom Event trigger with that name to fire tags the moment consent changes.

Check your setup

Follow How to check Google Consent Mode v2 is working and use GTM’s Preview mode. Adding ?gtm_debug resets the stored choice once per debug session, so you can test the banner from scratch.