Install Arqam360 with Google Tag Manager (Consent Mode v2)

Last updated: October 3, 20266 min readIntermediateBrandDeveloper

The Arqam360 tag template for Google Tag Manager loads your consent banner and sets Google Consent Mode v2 for you. It sets the default consent state before any Google tag fires, with different defaults per region if you need them, and updates it the moment a visitor makes a choice. You don't write any code.

Install Arqam360 once. If you already added the Arqam360 script tag to your site or to a Custom HTML tag in GTM, remove it when you switch to the template, so the banner isn't loaded twice.

Before you start

An Arqam360 account and your public site key. It starts with ciq_live_, and you'll find it under Settings → API Keys in your dashboard.
A Google Tag Manager web container installed on your site, and permission to publish it.
Your Google tags (Google Ads, GA4, Floodlight) set up in the same container.

Set up the tag

Add the template

In GTM, open Templates → Tag Templates → Search Gallery, search for Arqam360 and click Add to workspace.

Create the tag

Go to Tags → New → Tag Configuration and choose Arqam360 Consent Management Platform.

Paste your site key

Enter your public site key (ciq_live_…) in the Arqam360 site key field.

Check the defaults

Under Default consent for all visitors, ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization, analytics_storage and personalization_storage start as Denied, and functionality_storage and security_storage as Granted. These apply until the visitor chooses.

Fire it first

Set the trigger to Consent Initialization - All Pages. This trigger runs before every other trigger, so the defaults are in place before any Google tag fires.

Preview and publish

Click Preview to test, then Submit to publish the container.

Different defaults by region

Open Default consent by region and add a row for each group of regions that needs its own defaults. Use ISO 3166-2 codes separated by commas: a country (SA) or a state or province (US-CA). A region row overrides the defaults for all visitors, and the most specific region wins. Leave a type on Not set to keep the default for all visitors. For example, to keep everything denied for the Gulf and the EU but start analytics as granted in the United States:

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Default consent for all visitors:  analytics_storage = Denied
Region row 1:  SA, AE, QA, KW, BH, OM  →  (all Not set: keeps the defaults)
Region row 2:  US                       →  analytics_storage = Granted

Advanced settings

Wait for update: how long Google tags wait for a returning visitor's stored choice before they fire. Google recommends at least 500 ms, so lower values are raised to 500.
Redact ads data (ads_data_redaction): when ad_storage is denied, Google Ads and Floodlight tags drop ad click identifiers from their requests.
Pass ad click information through URLs (url_passthrough): when storage is denied, ad click and analytics information travels in link URLs instead of cookies.
Banner language: leave on Detect automatically to follow the page language and your dashboard setting, or pick a language.

How consent reaches your Google tags

The template sets the defaults with Tag Manager's own consent API, then loads the Arqam360 banner. When a visitor accepts, rejects or saves their preferences, the banner hands the choice back to the template, which updates the consent state through Tag Manager. A returning visitor's choice is read from the Arqam360 consent cookie as soon as the tag fires, so your tags don't wait for the banner to load. Marketing maps to ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization, analytics to analytics_storage, and preferences to personalization_storage.

Check that it works

Open Preview

In GTM, click Preview and open your site in the Tag Assistant window.

Check the defaults

Select the Consent Initialization event and open the Consent tab. On-page Default should show your defaults, for example ad_storage Denied.

Make a choice

Accept or reject on the banner. On-page Update should change to match your choice.

Check your tags

Your Google tags should fire with the updated consent state. Tags that need consent you haven't granted wait or send cookieless pings, as Consent Mode intends.

Only paste your public site key (ciq_live_…) into the template. Never use a secret key (ciq_sk_…): anything in a GTM tag is visible in your page source.

The two ways to run Consent Mode, and how to switch: Consent Mode: basic vs advanced.

If a Google tag runs before your consent default, or your tags use Google tag gateway: Google tag gateway (GTG) and consent timing.

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Install via Google Tag Manager

Google tag gateway (GTG) and consent timing

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