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The privacy landscape online has changed enormously over recent years and continues to do so.
First, we had the EU Cookie Directive back in 2011, and then the PECR updates and GDPR in 2018. The CCPA in California was also in 2018.
Since then we’ve had:
Some of this has been welcome and some of it has been well-meaning but a little too rigid. Some has been introduced poorly creating a lot of confusion, and some of it has been down to profound misunderstandings of web technologies and data collection by lawmakers and politicians.
Needless to say it’s a big topic globally, and set to remain so.
Mostly these things have been implemented to benefit the consumer, and not to harm businesses. But for the general consumer, it can be difficult to understand just how all of this applies to them, what data is collected, and what will change for them.
Then there are the blurred lines between consumer data and business data.
For marketers it is navigating the line between being compliant across their marketing channels, whilst still being able to collect useful analytics data, provide properly targeted advertisements, and having the customer and prospect data required to operate their businesses.
One area that has seen a lot of growth and change is cookie consent. Starting way back in 2011 with the introduction of the EU Cookie Directive. Then GDPR happened, and now the big web browsers are looking to answer concerns about 3rd party cookies.
We’ve seen an evolution in how businesses have adapted to these changes to remain compliant. It started with cookie policies added to website footers. Then implied consent cookie notice. Then it was vague cookie consent opt-ins. But now we’re seeing far more transparent and comprehensive solutions which give website visitors complete control over the cookies they consent to.
We’re seeing more businesses err on the side of caution where cookies are concerned. Simultaneously they’re also trying to educate their users on what cookies are, which ones they use, and what they do.
As such, there’s been a huge increase in businesses opting to use far more comprehensive cookie management tools on their websites.
Thankfully, many of these help marketers retain a good portion of their analytics data, whilst allowing users to decide what cookies they will allow or disallow. They can be as simple or complex as required, grouping cookies or splitting them out by purpose.
Initially, these consent tools were most commonly seen on public sector websites, where being on top of compliance is to be expected. Now it seems that more and more businesses are choosing them, as they are the most transparent and compliant options available. Perhaps due to the fear of fines in light of high-profile privacy cases in the news.
The more basic cookie notices are disappearing fast, in favour of those with more granular options for the user, and explicit consent gained.
In many cases, these platforms will not allow a visitor to continue on a website until they either opt-in, opt out, or select their preferences.
These platforms allow you to auto-block cookies until consent is obtained. Or they remain blocked if a user decides they don’t wish to allow tracking.
There are plenty of comprehensive cookie consent plugins and tools available for WordPress. These can manage cookie banners, cookie consent, cookie blocking, and even cookie policies. Many of them also work with multilingual WordPress websites.
Whilst we can review and recommend those we’ve worked with, we haven’t worked with all. So it’s important to do your research and due diligence before selecting one.
This is a very popular option and has a great WordPress plugin for easy management.
They are a UK-based provider, and the tool is used by lots of public sector organisations like the CPS, many councils, and NHS Scotland
We have definitely put this solution through its paces, including for one client for whom we implemented it on a 25 websites global multisite network. Each website is for a different country and uses the local languages, and many are multilingual websites.
They offer a range of licence options depending on your needs and use an explicit consent model. It is highly customisable, allowing you to group cookies into multiple categories, and is GDPR and CCPA-compliant.
Their pro licences allow for full branding control, use on subdomains, geolocation options, multilingual options and much more.
We’ve been very impressed with the level of control that this solution offers, and how customisable it is.
This is one I see quite frequently on websites when I’m browsing the internet, and they have a plugin. We have also implemented it on client websites.
Cookiebot, based in Denmark, has a range of plans available. A free option for small websites, premium options for various site sizes per domain, and an enterprise option which is price on request.
This could be an expensive solution for those managing multiple domains or very large sites. But for sites that are likely to remain a consistent size, this could offer an affordable option and effective solution. It is worth noting that if you hit the subpage caps, they will automatically upgrade your plan.
Aside from this, it’s a solid platform. The paid plans include multiple language options, customisation, geo-location, and internal domain alias’ for staging sites and testing.
Personally, I have found their support slow to respond (over a week).
Another solution we’ve implemented for several clients. Osano markets itself with a promise that should you receive a fine from a data protection authority related to a failure of their platform, they will pay it for you. This definitely shows a level of confidence in their product.
They don’t offer a plugin but have instructions on implementing in WordPress here.
They offer a number of plans to suit different business sizes and requirements. From a basic free option, up to an enterprise solution, which allows it to be used on unlimited domains and includes all features.
They also provide an extensive list of integration options and have a data discovery tool to aid you in finding and assessing your organisation’s data across multiple systems
Among their clients, they list Miele and PWC.
We’ve been impressed with the level of confidence the company has in their platform, and its additional tools.
Another popular solution that we have implemented for some of our clients. Cookie Script has been around for 8 years. They offer a range of pricing plans to meet the needs and complexity needed by their customers.
They have a plugin for easy onsite management, but it currently only has a couple of reviews.
They offer 4 plans, and then pricing varies additionally according to the number of domains it’s required for. It’s one of the cheaper platforms I’ve seen. It gives you the option to have their most feature-rich packages at a lower price point if you only have a single domain.
Every single one of their plans including their free option includes 34 languages along with their API-based Google Consent Mode. The paid plans add features like geo-targeting, customisation, and a privacy policy generator.
For a low-cost option, it has impressed us with its versatility, and the variable plans available.
This is another consent management tool we have experience with. They also have a plugin available for easy management.
They have 3 plans available, and their free option has no domain limitations (just fewer features).
Their paid options are add-ons to the free version. These offer the full range of features, one with a domain limit of 10, and one with no limitations. Other features include multilanguage support, auto-blocking, a preview banner in the backend, customisation, and a range of consent options.
This is another popular option I see used fairly widely when travelling around on the internet.
I couldn’t find a plugin, or any specific WordPress installation information on their website, but it does integrate with WordPress. Presumably, integration information becomes available on purchase.
They have a whole suite of privacy, compliance, and customer trust products. You can search for solutions on their website based on specific data regulations (like GDPR, or CCPA), or by category and product.
The website is a bit of a beast to navigate with so many tools available and it takes a good few clicks to get through to the pricing for their Cookie Consent tool. Much like the other platforms, they have a free option, in this case, offering you your first site for free. From what I can see their paid option, which includes geo location, multisite templates, and geo-specific banners costs £44 per month per domain.
They also have additional tools at further cost for app consent, digital policy management, OTT consent, and numerous other tools.
Cookie Notice from Hu-manity.co claims to offer a more ethical solution for managing consent. I haven’t seen this one out in the wild as much as some of the others. It certainly caught my eye when I first encountered it as it looks very different to most.
They have a plugin for simple management.
Instead of a nudge toward accepting recommended settings and a choice to customise preferences or opt-out, Cookie Notice presents a user with tiers of cookie consent. These are represented by silver, gold, and platinum, along with further options below each tier to specify even further.
I can see this option working well for industries where privacy and consent are highly scrutinised and prioritised. Though I do wonder if it could be overkill in complexity for the average web user.
This is obviously just opinion, based on my own gut reaction. But even as someone well versed in cookies, I think my brain would default to the middle option when offered so much customisation. Perhaps this could be useful.
However, I do really like the fact that they are offering something a bit different to most solutions, and that they have a very well-defined sales proposition and USPs.
There are of course many more options out there. I’ve only covered those I’ve encountered when browsing the web. However, it is worth researching your options and compiling a list of those you like the look of. Then you can whittle it down based on your requirements, the features you need, your budget, and so on.
If you’re looking to add a cookie consent management platform to your WordPress website and need development help to get it set up, drop us a message or call. We’ve handled complex implementations with large multilingual multisite networks.
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