OneTrust is the market leader in enterprise privacy management. Its consent management module offers the depth of configuration, scanning capability, and regulatory coverage that larger organisations and those in regulated industries typically require.
DATA HIT implements OneTrust's cookie consent and tracking integration, ensuring your banner configuration, consent signals, and Google tag behaviour all work correctly together. The platform is powerful, but that power comes with complexity that needs to be handled properly.
Larger organisations face consent management challenges that simpler platforms can't address. Multiple domains and subdomains, each with different tracking requirements. Teams across different regions needing to comply with different regulations. Complex tag management setups with dozens of vendors. Internal governance requirements for consent record-keeping and audit trails.
Off-the-shelf consent solutions often lack the configuration depth to handle these scenarios properly. The result is either a compromise on compliance or a patchwork of workarounds that becomes difficult to maintain.
OneTrust provides the configurability that complex organisations need. Granular consent categories, advanced cookie scanning across multiple domains, geo-specific banner rules, IAB TCF v2.2 support, and detailed consent logging with audit capabilities.
The trade-off is complexity. OneTrust has more settings, more options, and more ways for things to go wrong during implementation. Getting the technical integration right, particularly with Google Tag Manager and Google Consent Mode, is where specialist implementation support adds the most value.
My focus is on the technical consent and tracking integration within OneTrust. I can help with:
OneTrust offers the depth of control that larger organisations require. Granular consent categories, advanced geo-targeting rules, custom banner templates, and detailed governance controls give you the flexibility to handle complex compliance scenarios.
OneTrust's scanning engine identifies cookies, local storage, session storage, and other tracking technologies across your domains. Scan results feed directly into your consent configuration, keeping your cookie inventory current.
OneTrust supports Google Consent Mode v2, communicating all four consent parameters to Google tags. When properly integrated with GTM, your GA4 and Google Ads tracking adjusts automatically based on visitor consent choices, and modelled conversions fill the gaps from consent refusals.
For organisations running programmatic advertising, OneTrust provides full IAB Transparency and Consent Framework support. This ensures your consent collection meets the requirements of ad exchanges, SSPs, and DSPs.
OneTrust maintains comprehensive consent records, including what was consented to, when, how consent was presented, and any changes. This level of detail provides the audit trail that data protection authorities expect.
Manage consent across multiple domains, subdomains, and regions from a single OneTrust account. Each domain can have its own scanning, categorisation, and banner configuration whilst maintaining centralised oversight.
The integration between OneTrust and GTM is where most implementation complexity sits. OneTrust communicates consent status through its OptanonConsent cookie and callback functions, which need to be translated into GTM's consent management framework and Google Consent Mode parameters.
This requires configuring GTM to read OneTrust's consent categories, mapping those categories to the correct Google Consent Mode parameters (analytics_storage, ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization), and ensuring that consent updates are communicated in real time as visitors interact with the banner.
Common issues I see with existing OneTrust GTM integrations include consent categories that don't map correctly to GTM consent types, tags firing before consent status is determined, and consent updates not being reflected when visitors change their preferences through the preference centre.
OneTrust handles consent collection and privacy governance in your tracking and compliance setup. It typically works alongside:
OneTrust implementation is often part of a wider privacy and tracking project. I'll make sure the consent integration works correctly with your existing measurement stack.
Possibly. OneTrust is designed for organisations with complex compliance requirements: multiple domains, regional regulatory differences, large vendor lists, and internal governance needs. For smaller businesses with a single website and straightforward tracking, platforms like CookieYes or Cookiebot are typically more appropriate and cost-effective. I can advise on which platform best fits your situation.
Cookiebot offers strong scanning and is well suited to mid-size organisations. OneTrust provides more configuration depth, better multi-domain management, and stronger governance features for larger organisations. OneTrust also extends beyond cookie consent into broader privacy management (DSAR handling, data mapping, vendor management), which may be relevant if your compliance needs go beyond cookies.
Yes. Auditing and fixing existing OneTrust implementations is a common engagement. Typical issues include incorrect consent category mapping, Google Consent Mode not configured or misconfigured, tags firing outside of OneTrust's control, and banner behaviour that doesn't match the intended setup. I'll diagnose the issues and fix them.
Yes. Consent signals from OneTrust can be forwarded from the client-side GTM container to a server-side container. This means server-side tags can also respect consent status, giving you both the privacy compliance of OneTrust and the data recovery benefits of server-side tracking.
OneTrust offers modules for data subject access requests, data mapping, vendor management, and more. My focus is on the cookie consent and tracking integration side. If you're implementing the wider OneTrust platform, I'll ensure the consent module integrates correctly with your tracking and measurement setup.
Implementation includes OneTrust banner and category configuration, cookie scanning review, Google Consent Mode v2 integration, GTM consent mapping, geo-targeting rules, and comprehensive testing across all consent states. Typical timelines are 2-3 weeks, depending on the number of domains and complexity of your tag management setup.
Ensure your enterprise consent management actually does what it's supposed to. Book a discovery call to discuss your OneTrust implementation or fix an existing setup.
With years of dedicated experience across agency and client-side, I bring a wealth of industry knowledge and technical skill to every project.
Get direct access to the services and skills you require for your project to maximise the value of your investment.
I can integrate with any existing communication platform.
I will provide transparent communication for every step of the journey.
My project recommendations aren't tied to a specific set of platforms or ecosystems.
Matt is a reliable analytics architect and data expert who consistently delivers high quality work for clients. His deep and diverse experience across sectors and platforms ensures that clients receive balanced advice. The robust implementations that he produces cover scalability and future-proofing needs as standard. Talented and operates with great integrity, with a real passion for his work. Highly recommended, without hesitation.
DATA HIT has become a certified partner of Addingwell, an all-in-one platform designed to help businesses navigate these challenges through server-side tagging.
A recent Data Import product update in Google Analytics 4 has significantly simplified the process of connecting it to Salesforce.
