A cookie banner is a promise to your visitors: we will not track you until you say it is okay. Many sites make that promise and then break it without knowing. Here are three checks you can do yourself in about ten minutes.
Check 1: Open a private window
Open your site in a private or incognito window so you start fresh. Do not click anything on the banner yet. Then open your browser’s developer tools, go to the Network tab, and type “collect” or “google” in the filter box. If you see requests going to Google Analytics before you have clicked anything, your tags are not waiting.
Check 2: Click Reject and look again
Now click the option to reject cookies. Reload the page and watch the Network tab again. You should see far fewer requests, or requests that are clearly marked as consent-denied. If it looks the same as before, the banner is not connected to your tags.
Check 3: Compare your numbers
Look at your Google Analytics numbers for the week before and after you added the banner. A drop of 20 to 40 percent is normal. A drop of 80 percent or more usually means the banner is blocking everything, including the parts Google allows you to keep. No drop at all usually means it is blocking nothing.
What to do next
If any check fails, the fix is usually in how the banner talks to Google Tag Manager, and in turning on a Google feature called Consent Mode. Our cookie consent page explains both.