Microsoft Consent Mode UET and CookieFirst

Microsoft UET Consent Mode and How to Implement It with CookieFirst

As global privacy regulations like the GDPR and Digital Markets Act tighten, advertisers are under increasing pressure to balance effective marketing with ethical data practices. Microsoft Ads is stepping up with a major compliance initiative: Microsoft UET Consent Mode. Set to become mandatory by May 5, 2025, this new feature ensures that your website respects users’ privacy preferences while maintaining core ad capabilities like conversion tracking and remarketing.

In this article, we’ll break down what Microsoft UET Consent Mode is, how it works, and how to implement it—especially using Google Tag Manager (GTM) and tools like CookieFirst.

Microsoft Consent Mode for UET and How to Implement It with CookieFirst and GTM

What Is Microsoft UET Consent Mode?

Microsoft’s Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag helps advertisers measure conversions and create remarketing lists. However, by default, it collects data regardless of user consent—putting businesses at risk of non-compliance with European privacy laws.
Enter Consent Mode: a mechanism that adapts how the UET tag behaves depending on a user’s consent status.

If consent is granted, tracking operates normally.
If denied, the UET tag limits or anonymizes data collection.

This allows Microsoft Ads to tailor data collection behavior in real time, aligning with user preferences.

Why is it important?

Failing to implement Consent Mode by May 5, 2025 will cause Microsoft Ads features like conversion tracking and remarketing to stop working for users in the EU, UK, and Switzerland. That could result in serious campaign blind spots and performance drops.

Setting up Microsoft UET Consent Mode with CookieFirst

You can implement Microsoft Ads Consent Mode using CookieFirst’s Consent Management Platform (CMP). Here you can find the steps to configure Microsoft consent mode settings, ensuring that Microsoft Ads’ Universal Event Tracking (UET) tags respond appropriately to user consent choices.

Enabling Microsoft Consent Mode in CookieFirst: Within the CookieFirst dashboard, under the domain’s basic settings, there’s a section titled “Microsoft Consent mode settings.” Here, you can enable the toggle to ensure that the appropriate update commands are sent to the Microsoft Ads UET tag.
Setting Default Consent States: CookieFirst allows you to define default consent states for users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and non-EEA regions. This ensures that the UET tag behaves in compliance with regional privacy regulations.
Integration with CookieFirst’s Cookie Banner: It’s crucial that the CookieFirst cookie banner loads before the UET code on your website. This sequence ensures that user consent preferences are captured and communicated to Microsoft Ads effectively.

By following these configurations, businesses can ensure that their use of Microsoft Ads aligns with privacy regulations like the GDPR, enhancing user trust and maintaining effective advertising performance.

For a more detailed walkthrough and visual aids, you can refer directly to the article: Microsoft Ads consent mode – CookieFirst Support.

Integrating Microsoft Consent Mode with Google Tag Manager

If you are using the official Microsoft UET tag template in Google Tag Manager to load your UET tag there is a built in integration with Google Consent Mode. This means that the Microsoft tag inherits the settings from Google Consent Mode directly.

There are two options to get the user consent:

Inherit initial consent (which is by default disabled)
Enable consent updates (which is enabled by default)

By default, with the Enable consent updates option activated, the UET tag records consent only after the user clicks the consent button. However, in some cases, the UET tag may load after the user has already given consent, which means any consent changes made before the tag loads will not be captured.

To address this, we recommend enabling the Inherit Initial User Consent option.

Default Behavior and Recommendations

Our analysis shows that the initial user consent often defaults to a particular setting even when no Consent Management Platform (CMP) is present on the site. As a result, the Inherit Initial User Consent option is disabled by default. This option should only be enabled in specific situations where inheriting the initial consent state is necessary.

Additional Considerations

Microsoft recognizes that configuring these settings may require some extra steps on your part to ensure proper integration. It’s important to carefully review your consent settings and, if needed, customize consent handling based on your website’s unique requirements and how your CMP behaves.

Using CookieFirst: Key Considerations

While CookieFirst’s full integration guides were temporarily unavailable, typical features include:

Automatic consent signal passing to third-party scripts like Microsoft UET.
GDPR-compliant cookie categorization, ensuring only marketing cookies are affected.
Consent event hooks that can be connected to GTM triggers for dynamic tag control.

If you use CookieFirst, make sure:

Your cookie categories map correctly (i.e., UET is labeled under “advertising”).
You’ve enabled integration for Microsoft Ads within your CookieFirst dashboard.
You verify consent signals via browser dev tools or Microsoft Ads’ diagnostic tools.

The Benefits of Compliance

Avoid Data Loss: Keep campaign data intact while respecting legal boundaries.
Build Trust: Transparency in data practices earns user trust and brand loyalty.
Stay Ahead: Many platforms (like Google) are moving toward consent-based tracking; early adoption gives you a competitive edge.

Microsoft UET Consent Mode is more than a checkbox—it’s a strategic investment in privacy-first advertising. By implementing it now using tools like Google Tag Manager and CookieFirst, you protect your marketing insights and ensure legal peace of mind.

Need help integrating Consent Mode into your setup? Whether you’re using a custom solution or a CMP, now’s the time to audit your stack.