Why did my GA4 data drop after adding a cookie banner?
Because GA4 now waits for consent. Under the PDPL, analytics normally needs the visitor's explicit, informed consent before it runs, and through Google Consent Mode v2 the analytics_storage signal stays denied until the visitor accepts analytics. Visitors who refuse, or never answer, are no longer measured the way they were before the banner.
A drop is the banner doing its job. A report that did not move at all is the thing to check: open Google's Tag Assistant and confirm a denied default fires before any Google tag, then an update when the visitor chooses. In the September 2026 KSA E-Commerce Privacy Compliance Index, 751 of 1,556 Saudi storefronts (48%) ran Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager without a Consent Mode v2 signal.
Google fills part of the gap with modelling. GA4 can model behaviour for users who decline, once traffic thresholds are met. Without Consent Mode v2 signals, Google cannot tell a consented visitor from one who declined, so it cannot apply conversion modelling to that traffic.
Read the full Saudi PDPL guideHow Arqam360 handles this
Arqam360's banner sets all four Consent Mode signals to denied by default, then updates them when the visitor chooses: analytics consent grants analytics_storage, and marketing consent grants ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization.
See how it worksSources
- 1.Personal Data Protection Law — official English text (SDAIA)
- 2.Implementing Regulation of the Personal Data Protection Law (SDAIA)
Last reviewed . Not legal advice.