What is the CONSENT cookie?
CONSENT is an HTTP cookie set by Google on the google.com domain, not directly by the visited website. It usually appears when a page loads Google resources – most commonly an embedded YouTube video, a Google Maps element, or another Google widget – which triggers a request to Google's servers.
The CookieFix scanner detected it on 6 Romanian websites in the sample analyzed, confirming it is fairly common whenever Google integrations are used on a page.
What data it stores
At a general level, the cookie stores information about the user's interaction with Google's consent screens, or internal settings Google uses to decide whether and how to display such a screen. The exact format of the value is not publicly documented by Google and may vary; no further technical details about its internal structure are publicly known.
The data is sent to Google's servers (the google.com domain), not to the site hosting the content, since the cookie is set by the embedded Google resource rather than the site's main domain.
What it is used for
For Google, CONSENT helps internally manage the consent-related experience across its own services (for example, avoiding repeated prompts or remembering settings tied to how Google content is displayed).
For the website owner, this cookie has no direct functional role – it appears as a side effect of embedding a Google element (video, map, font, script) and cannot be configured or customized from the site itself.
Does it require consent?
In CookieFix's classification, CONSENT is marked as strictly necessary, since it is not used for advertising targeting or analytics on the visited site, but rather for the technical functioning of the embedded Google resource. Even so, site owners should evaluate this type of cookie carefully: if the Google resource generating it (e.g. a YouTube embed) loads automatically without user action, some authorities still recommend blocking it until consent is given, to avoid transferring data to Google before the visitor has been informed.
Regardless of classification, the cookie must be disclosed in the site's cookie policy, in line with GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive (transposed in Romania via Law 506/2004).
How to block or delete CONSENT
A visitor can delete or block this cookie from browser settings (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.), under the per-site cookie management section, or by using private/incognito browsing.
- Site owners can delay loading Google resources (YouTube, Maps, etc.) until consent is obtained, using a click-to-load approach or a static preview image instead of the live embed.
- A CMP such as CookieFix can automatically block scripts that generate such cookies until the visitor gives consent, integrating with a GDPR/ePrivacy-compliant consent banner.
Frequently asked questions
It's an HTTP cookie set by Google on the google.com domain, used internally to manage consent screens or settings related to Google resources embedded on a page.
CookieFix classifies it as strictly necessary, but if it originates from an automatically loaded Google embed, some site owners still choose to block it until consent as a precaution.
Its typical duration is around 2 years, based on public observations and CookieFix scans.
It can be deleted from the browser's privacy settings, in the per-site cookie section, or avoided by using private/incognito browsing.