Google Ads Cookies: List With Purpose and Retention

Cookies Google Ads Sets on Your Site

Google Ads sets up to 3 _gcl_ cookies on your domain, led by _gcl_au, plus the _gcl_ls local storage key, and Google sets its own cookies on doubleclick.net.

Scripts, Pixels, and Endpoints Google Ads Loads

Google Ads loads 5 known scripts, pixels, and data endpoints. Each row gives the host to look for in the Network tab of Chrome DevTools or in a cookie scanner report.

Does Google Ads Need Consent?

Yes, the Google Ads cookies need consent in the EU and the UK, and need no prior opt-in in California. The table gives the rule for each law, taken from the page of the _gcl_au cookie.

The consent table describes what each law requires and is not legal advice. Whether a law applies to your site depends on where your visitors are, where your business is based, and how you set up Google Ads, such as conversion linking and Google Consent Mode v2.

Read the reason for each answer in the consent rules for the _gcl_au cookie.

How to Add Google Ads to a Consent Banner

Add Google Ads to a consent banner by holding back the Google tag with your AW- ID until the visitor accepts advertising cookies. Both TermsFeed products block Google Ads in the Advertising category.

<script type="text/plain" data-cookie-consent="targeting" async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-YOUR_ID"></script>
<script type="text/plain" data-cookie-consent="targeting">
  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
  gtag('js', new Date());
  gtag('config', 'AW-YOUR_ID');
</script>

Follow every step, the vendor settings, and the check in Chrome DevTools in how to block the _gcl_au cookie.

Who Runs Google Ads

Google LLC runs Google Ads from the United States, and Google Ireland Limited provides Google Ads to advertisers in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Google Ads runs under the Google Ads Data Processing Terms.

Read how Google LLC handles the data in the Google Ads privacy policy, and sign the Google Ads Data Processing Terms before you collect data from visitors in the EU or the UK. Both documents appear in the sources at the end of this page.

Google Ads Cookie FAQs

Does Google Ads need consent?

Yes, the Google Ads cookies need consent in the EU and the UK, and need no prior opt-in in California. Firstly, the ePrivacy Directive requires consent before a site sets the advertising cookies of Google Ads. Secondly, the UK PECR requires consent before a site sets the advertising cookies of Google Ads. Thirdly, the CCPA sets no general opt-in requirement for the advertising cookies of Google Ads, and the table gives the opt-out right of visitors. The consent section of this page gives the table for each law.

How long do Google Ads cookies last?

The cookies of Google Ads last up to 90 days (3 months), and 1 cookie lasts for the browser session. A session cookie such as test_cookie has no expiry date, and the _gcl_au cookie lasts longest. The retention column of the cookie list gives the lifetime of each cookie.

How do I block Google Ads cookies?

Block the Google Ads cookies by holding back the Google tag with your AW- ID until the visitor accepts advertising cookies. Tag the Google tag with your AW- ID with data-cookie-consent="targeting" in TermsFeed Free Cookie Consent, or add Google Ads as a vendor in TermsFeed Privacy Consent. The page of the _gcl_au cookie gives the full steps and the settings of Google Ads.