A survey that loads tracking tools such as Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics or Meta Pixel sets analytical and advertising cookies in the respondent’s browser. The cookie consent banner lets respondents decide before any of those tools load.
Use it when you share a survey publicly with tracking turned on and your privacy policy requires consent for analytics or advertising cookies. If your organization already runs a consent tool such as Cookiebot, you can use that instead, as described at the end of this article.
What the banner does
When the banner is on, a respondent opening the survey sees a short note with three buttons: Accept all, Reject all and a cookie preferences button that opens the list of categories. The banner shows a link to the cookie policy and appears in the survey’s language.
| Cookie category | What it controls in the survey |
|---|---|
| Strictly necessary cookies | Always on. Cookies the survey needs to work, for example the one that blocks repeated submissions. |
| Analytical cookies | Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, including the form events sent to GTM. |
| Functional cookies | A separate category the respondent can accept or refuse. |
| Advertising/profiling cookies | Meta Pixel. |
- Until the respondent decides, no tracking tool loads.
- After Accept all, the tools load straight away and events from the started survey are delivered.
- After Reject all, none of the tracking tools load. The survey itself works the same.
- The choice is saved for 365 days in the respondent’s browser, on the survey’s domain, so the banner does not come back on every visit.
Turn on the cookie consent banner
- Open the survey in the editor.
- Go to Settings.
- Turn on Show cookie consent banner.
- Save and publish the survey.
- Open the live survey link in a private browser window and check that the banner appears.
To test the whole flow, accept cookies and confirm in GTM Preview (Tag Assistant) that your container loads. Then repeat in a new private window with Reject all and confirm that it does not.
Use Cookiebot or another consent tool through Google Tag Manager
The survey does not accept custom scripts, but Google Tag Manager does. Consent platforms such as Cookiebot, CookieYes or Usercentrics provide a GTM template, so your own banner can run on the survey.
- Keep Show cookie consent banner off in the survey settings. Otherwise respondents would see two banners.
- Add your container ID in Integrations → Google Tag Manager: see Google Tag Manager integration.
- In GTM, add your consent platform’s template, for example Cookiebot CMP, and set its trigger to Consent Initialization – All Pages.
- Set the consent requirements on your other tags (GA4, Google Ads, Meta Pixel) as described in your consent platform’s documentation.
- In your consent platform, add the domain the survey runs on to the list of allowed domains.
- Publish the container and test the survey in Preview.
Consent is stored per domain. If the survey runs on a custom domain such as survey.yourcompany.com, set up your consent platform for that domain the same way as for your other subdomains.
Which option to choose
| Built-in banner | Your consent platform via GTM | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | One switch in Settings | Template and consent rules in GTM |
| Banner design | Matches the survey | Your consent platform’s banner |
| Consent records | Stored in the respondent’s browser | Logged in your consent platform |
| Best for | Surveys that use GTM, GA or Meta Pixel without a company consent tool | Teams that already manage consent with Cookiebot or a similar tool |
Respondent consent rules differ by country and by the tools you use. If you are unsure which categories your tags fall into, check with your privacy or legal team before you launch.
Related: Google Tag Manager integration, Google Analytics integration, Meta Pixel integration and custom domain. Running surveys inside your own site? See website surveys.
