XF 2.2 Will xenForo cookie consent notice be on Google's list of certified CMPs?

[Mr Lucky]

Not content with recently making us jump through hoops editing the default xenForo consent notice, we now have this:

Google’s commitment to transparency and control means we regularly look at ways to improve the consent experience. When we do this, we’re thinking about evolving user expectations and regulatory indicators that we think will ultimately guide the broader online advertising landscape.​

​

We recently announced in this blogpost that later this year, we will require partners using our publisher products — Google AdSense, Ad Manager, or AdMob — to use a Google-certified CMP that integrates with IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) when serving ads to users in the European Economic Area or the UK. In the coming weeks, we will make available a list of certified CMPs that have integrated with the TCF and can demonstrate they meet the TCF’s specifications, and we’ll require that our publisher partners use a CMP from that list. This new requirement will apply to partners’ own accounts and those managed by partners on behalf of others. The list of Google certified CMPs will be available in our HC articles (Ad Manager, AdMob, AdSense).​

I wonder if xenForo will be on the approved list, or whether we need to integrate a 3rd party "approved" CMP even though the xenForo team have done a great job in furnishing us with a GDPR compliant consent notice, but now Google has changed the goalposts yet again.

I'm sure that unless we use one of their approved CMPs then we will not be able to use adsense. And I'm also sure that integrating one of those is not going to be as easy and seamless as the provided xenForo consent notice. Grrrr.

Will xenForo be compliant?

 

[Max Fridman]

Will xenForo be compliant?

I don't think it will. They need to implement the IAB TCF 2.2 requirements and then be certified as a provider. Probably we will need to pay a service (which is quite costly) or use a "free" service like Quantcast (that use our users data).

But they should because for forums is impossible to pay to sustain those kind of services. And often use ads to monetize and sustain themselves.

@Chris D @Kier

 

[Mr Lucky]

And often use ads to monetize and sustain themselves.

Yes I think there must be quite a high proportion of forum sites that rely on ads. Of course there are alternatives to Adsense but for many that may be a bit of an unknown quantity. I spoke to Ezoic, and they require you to change nameservers addresses which I was a bit nervous about.

Sorry getting off topic, this thread is asking about xenForo compliance.

 

[BassMan]

I am also interested in this what is actually going to change for forums using Adsense.

 

[Max Fridman]

Of course there are alternatives to Adsense

I think every Ad Network will be required to comply with EEA / UK standards, they are looking for standardize cookie banners accross all the web.

 

[benFF]

If you're using adsense, then you can just use their cookie compliance banner. Or am I missing something?

 

[Mr Lucky]

If you're using adsense, then you can just use their cookie compliance banner. Or am I missing something?

Only that I don’t know how to activate it in xenForo, maybe I should work out how to do that!

 

[Mr Lucky]

If you're using adsense, then you can just use their cookie compliance banner. Or am I missing something?

Only that I don’t know how to activate it in xenForo, maybe I should work out how to do that!

And I can't actually find it. I thought I had seen it previously but I googled it (Google cookie compliance banner) and cannot find the actual Google one. ???

 

[Black Tiger]

You have to activate it via your adsense account and then you can get the code somewhere if I remember correctly.
I've tried that some time ago, but if "no" was choosen, then not a single add was shown, while there should be a choice between ads specified for you or just random ads. There is a word for that but I'm not native English and forgot it.

So people don't want cookies or their auto cookie refuse addon says no, and nobody sees any ads anymore. Which is why I removed the thing again.

Ah... find my topic and post about it:

Not a bug - Adsense gone in Firefox, new cookie style issue?

Adsense showing in page source, but no ads showing in Firefox. Ads are showing in Chrome and Edge. Steps to reproduce: Go to your Adsense, create the adsense code again by clicking the ad styling etc. you want to show, it's just a few clicks. Then save. Or just use the same settings and save...

xenforo.com

Edit: Just see this was the GPDR option, which also made things good for adsense, but not good for the forums.
I don't know if Google has one of it's own which is usable, there is one, should be implemented with an add if I'm not mistaken or in header or footer or something.

 

[BassMan]

@Mr Lucky
Go to Ads, then, on the right side of your domain, click the pencil icon to Edit.

After that click on the Privacy messages tab on the right side and there you have it:




If you enable it you get a cookie consent notice. But if a user doesn't consent, no ads are displayed.

 

[Max Fridman]

Google Adsense Ads always require cookies to be shown. Thats why you don't see them if you don't accept any cookie. Even for non personalized ads you need cookies.

 

[webbouk]

Google Adsense can no longer be relied upon as a regular source of income. We're finding that revenue is depleting as more and more browsers are using and promoting adblockers as standard, yet operational costs are constantly increasing.

 

[Black Tiger]

Even for non personalized ads you need cookies.

I had to consent to all, not a few. So I removed it and Adsense showed ads again, users did not have to accept anything special anymore. Non personalized are always shown at my site.
Big issue was that when using that gpdr thing, users had to consent to -all- cookies, not only to a few which should also be possible. So if they choose to only view non-personalized and refused personalized, no ads were shown either way. Everything switch had to be accepted, choice option did not work it was all or nothing, which is why I disabled this again.

But that is a bit off-topic since now we get this CMP stuff again and I also believe Google will not be the only one, maybe the first yes....

 

[Max Fridman]

@Chris D @Kier can you please answer to this? eventually the cookie solution bundled in Xenforo will no longer be compatible with Google Adsense. This is obviously a problem for the monetisation of Xenforo by its users.

f you would let us know how you intend to proceed, whether you will try to certify Xenforo, or whether you have no intention of doing so. We would have time to change the cookie solution (which is a cumbersome operation for very large sites and can lead to various problems).

I hope to have an answer. Since we are not talking about when Xenforo 2.3 or other amenities will be released. But about money. Which are not optional if you want to keep a site online.

 

[Mr Lucky]

which is a cumbersome operation for very large sites

Also a problem for smaller sites if we have to work out the complexities of integrating an existing approved CMP. (Or pay a developer to do so)

 

[Max Fridman]

Also a problem for smaller sites if we have to work out the complexities of integrating an existing approved CMP. (Or pay a developer to do so)

With an addon you can easily integrate a CMP like iubenda, we did it fairly quickly.

 

[Mr Lucky]

With an addon you can easily integrate a CMP like iubenda, we did it fairly quickly.

Which addon is that?

 

[Max Fridman]

Which addon is that?

We developed this addon internally for our own site is not publicly available.

 

[Mr Lucky]

We developed this addon internally for our own site is not publicly available.

Ah OK. That's what I mean by:

Also a problem for smaller sites if we have to work out the complexities of integrating an existing approved CMP. (Or pay a developer to do so)

Hopefully (if xenForo do not make theirs compliant which would be favorite) , a good dev here will release an addon.

 

[Jon12345]

If Xenforo do not provide a compliant solution, I predict this will happen:

1. Xenforo sales and renewals will drop because site owners cannot monetise their forums effectively.

2. Competing forum software that does provide a solution will grow their market share at the expense of Xenforo.