Google AdSense and Cookies (Cookie Law) email

EU Cookies

[Badger37]

Hi all,
I've just received an email from Google regarding AdSense and Cookies.
Cookie Law came in a couple of years ago and seems mostly to be a waste or time and just another irritation to website visitors. I was hoping that it would quietly go away!

The email from Google reads as if you now have to implement a 'consent mechanism' if you have already - are other people receiving these emails and what are peoples views (especially if they are in the UK like me).

I've put the Google email text below.
Thanks.



Google Ads Policy Team
Dear Publisher,

We want to let you know about a new policy about obtaining EU end-users’ consent that reflects regulatory and best practice guidance. It clarifies your duty to obtain end-user consent when you use products like Google AdSense, DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

Please review our new EU user consent policy as soon as possible. This requires that you obtain EU end users’ consent to the storing and accessing of cookies and other information, and to the data collection, sharing and usage that takes place when you use Google products. It does not affect any provisions on data ownership in your contract.

Please ensure that you comply with this policy as soon as possible, and not later than 30 September 2015.

If your site or app does not have a compliant consent mechanism, you should implement one now. To make this process easier for you, we have compiled some helpful resources at cookiechoices.org.

This policy change is being made in response to best practice and regulatory requirements issued by the European data protection authorities. These requirements are reflected in changes that have been recently made on Google’s own websites.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.
Regards,
The Google Policy Team

[threesixandnine]

Why in the head of the html? Put it down just before </body> and you're good to go.

[Webwork]

I live in the USA. My websites are hosted in the USA. My business is located in the USA. My domains are .com or .org, not .eu, .uk, etc.

IF someone from the EU pays a visit to the USA do I have to "pay" anything to the EU? VAT? Do I have to follow EU rules whilst they are on USA soil?

I think not AND I trust Google is serving their ads, for my USA hosted and business based websites in the USA.

So . . . I don't anticipate having an issue with this new directive. HOWEVER, IFF Google wishes to clarify that "I do" THEN I suspect the next people I will be contacting will be my two State Senators and my Congressman. I'm sure the U.S. Congress will be delighted to know that my USA based website is being subjected to EU directives.

Okay, this is as far as I'm willing to go in my rightwing USA wingnut mode and now I'm hoping that someone will dopeslap me with a clear explanation as to how this plays out "in my business situation". Please . . . (with reference to authoritative resources upon which the opinion is based).

[glitterball]

There have been some prosecutions on this in Spain, so it is not being ignored.

[Leosghost]

( aside to WW ) You don't have to pay any VAT to the EU when someone from the EU physically visits the U.S.A to see you, nor do yo hav eto charge them VAT ( and then pay it to the EU if they buy something from you during their "physical "visit" ).. But if you supply goods or services to an EU citizen who visists your site from the EU, or who orders goods or services from you whilst they physically remain in the EU, then yes, you have to charge them VAT..( you then forward thsi VAT to the EU ) they have to pay it to you, unless they are " VAT exempt", and / or can provide you with a VAT number..( (/aside to WW :)

More later re G the EU and cookies...cooking dinner ATM..:)

Many U.S.A business ..such as Godaddy, Hostgator etc charge EU citizens VAT ( for domain names, servers , hosting etc ) on top of the prices that they show to citizens outside of the EU..

[RonPK]

In the EU the cookie law is enforced by national authorities. There is no way for the EU to enforce the rules outside of the EU. Unless privacy rules become part of treaties such as TTIP. Or some silly multinational company starts acting weird...

[RedBar]

There have been some prosecutions on this in Spain, so it is not being ignored.

Do you have definitive references or links for this, I have been searching for "prosecutions" but unable to find any so far anywhere in Europe.

What did they not do to comply would be a fair question to ask?

Surely they were given a fix it or else warning?

[RonPK]

In the Netherlands the public broadcasting organization was fined for EUR 25,000 in 2014. [nu.nl...] (In Dutch).

Also the enforcement agency recently started threatening other major non-compliant sites with fines by sending letters: [tweakers.net...] (also in Dutch). The letters seem to be very effective.

[jpch]

Meanwhile everyone's personal information is being sold online anyway as one website after another is hacked and exploited.

[RedBar]

NPO - a technical misunderstanding?

What could that be?

[RedBar]

I just found a review of how some countries have implemented it and their enforcement.

The Netherlands - The Dutch law requires explicit consent for the use of cookies - one of the strictest interpretations of the EU Directive.

The UK - The ICO’s approach to enforcement is a very light touch one. They have put in place a complaints mechanism, but do not take any proactive investigative action.

As of Spring 2013, the most action they have taken is to make a visual check of sites to see whether or not they have any user notification of the use of cookies. They have the power to force site owners to change their site to comply with the law, but have also said that it is unlikely they would go so far as to impose a fine for non-compliance with the law.

Nice to see we're all operating under the same EU rules as usual!

So people, the UK's the place to be:-)

[RedBar]

Anyway, AdSense non-earnings are so little for me now that I couldn't give a monkey's about their attitude towards me .. please, ban me Google, I don't earn in 24 HOURS now what the minimum WAGE per hour is in the UK!

[vegasrick]

Can anyone please explain this to me? My traffic ( 4 million uniques per month) is 85% or more from the United States and other countries outside of the EU. Based on Analytics only 11.3% of traffic is EU based.

I have NOT received any email notification from Adsense to make this change. I by chance saw it in this forum. None of my friends with high profile sites have been advised about this change as well.

What happens if we DON'T do this? The legal liability falls on the individual website? No? I just don't see everyone, especially publishers making six figures a year with them, being banned.

And if we do have to do this, I saw one site (pay code unfortunately) where you can GEO target this crap to EU users only.

I'll hold tight until Adsense actually sends an email directing me to make this change.

[ChanandlerBong]

Interesting. Have other US-based publishers had this mail or not?

[lowlow]

In the future you'll have to go through about 20 verification's just to be able to view a web site. Ironically this will make Google obsolete as they can't index the content.

I'm going to add a floating div bottom right saying "we use cookies [more info], by continuing you agree/accept!". Any ideas about to only show this one time to a visitor?

[ember]

I'm in the US and haven't gotten the email or notice in my account. Nothing is changing until I do.

[nomis5]

Any ideas about to only show this one time to a visitor?

I have the solution. Write a cookie to say they do / do not like cookies, and if they don't like cookies write one anyway. And read it each time they visit.

The phrase going up your own ar.....le comes to mind

[vordmeister]

I can't find a solution. I'm in the UK and I do have some visitors who wear tin foil hats and refuse all cookies and I would like them to continue to use my site rather than use some competitor site from a more sensible part of the world. Currently my site functions reasonably with cookies disabled so all is well.

From 30th September I need to put up an annoying pop up on every single page telling people that I make cookies. If people say they already like cookies I can send them a cookie so I know not to show them an annoying pop up every page.

Is there any way to remember a 'yeah whatever I don't accept them for privacy reasons anyway' from people who do not accept cookies? I can get rid of the message every page with a session but they will have to dismiss the pop up next time they visit?

Without some thought on implementation the EU privacy rule is going to either force tin foil hats off the internet altogether or make them accept cookies to avoid the constant pop ups.

[Sheqel]

Is there any way to remember a 'yeah whatever I don't accept them for privacy reasons anyway' from people who do not accept cookies?

Yes, with a cookie. And since that would be an essential cookie, consent is not required.

Personally I will just display the message on every pageview until the user clicks 'ok' out of aggravation.

[trebuchet]

Actually I think the EU's kooky cookie law will only empower and embolden (and embiggen) the tin foil hat wearers. Previously it was only the privacy-obsessed conspiracy theorists who rejected cookies. The EU law implies that cookies are a danger or problem, when clearly they are not.

[vordmeister]

You can't send an essential cookie to people who don't accept cookies. They don't accept the essential ones either.

I have just written to my Euro MP to ask for advice on coding my way out of this issue. I genuinely accept that some people don't like to accept cookies and can't see any way not to annoy the hell out of those people.

[vegasrick]

The easiest solution that I've found, and FREE, is the below URL. It is also the least annoying (it's almost not there). A lot of EU based website use the below. Once Adsense notifies me to make this change, which they have not, I'll use the below but have it coded to GEO target EU users only.

http://app.cookieassistant.com/

[edited by: martinibuster at 2:07 pm (utc) on Jul 30, 2015]

[piatkow]

Anyway, AdSense non-earnings are so little for me now that I couldn't give a monkey's about their attitude towards me .. please, ban me Google, I don't earn in 24 HOURS now what the minimum WAGE per hour is in the UK!

Same here although I haven't had the email.
As implimented in the UK consent is implicit and I have a notice on my website. Explicit consent is a Google requirement not an EU one. Naturally the Google blog itself relies on implicit consent so do as G says not as G does.

[Sheqel]

You can't send an essential cookie to people who don't accept cookies. They don't accept the essential ones either.

Consent is only required for non-essential cookies. I would say the preference for storing non-essential cookies is rather essential.

[futuresky]

The entire cookie law is ridculous, and google forcing this even moreso. If tinfoil people don't want cookies they can turn them off in their browser.

[vordmeister]

To be fair to Google they have probably been threatened with yet another multi-million dollar fine. If I were Google in that situation I would do what they are doing - force publishers to comply and expose the madness.

Given the intention of the law is to help tin foil hat people we should make an effort to make the changes least painful to them. Current technology if we use pop ups will make it really painful for those guys unless we make them accept cookies. There is no way other than cookies to save tin hat people from constant pop up annoyance..

I am wondering whether it has to be a pop up. I have found no official guidance on actual implementation. Maybe some wording in the footer like a link to 'privacy policy' might be OK? That would get around the tin foil hat people problem and I'm sure the EU would really appreciate our effort.

[threesixandnine]

I wouldn't use that app.cookieassistant.com mentioned earlier by vegasrick because it adds invisible link to your <body>

[jetteroheller]

What's about a "stop annoying me campaign"? I am angry about each web site asking me for cookie allowence.

Why not write each webmaster an email

"Do not annoy me with this idiotic cookie question

I will never click on this button, because when I do not want cookies, I can set this in my browser.
So why do You bother me with this idiotic cookie question? Just stop this nonsense"

Let's make a big campaign out of it, big enough to impress this EU dictatorship.

[lowlow]

So can implied consent still be used i.e. "if you continue you agree, if not, leave" - or do we have to remove ads if the tin-foil-hat wearers are scared of ad cookies?

[kireb]

Anyone suggestion for a simple 'implied consent' script with GEO functions? 90% of my traffic comes from non EU countries and why bother them with this?

Also, whats next? Thailand wants a pop up to warn visitors that your content might be sensitive to their military regime over or 112 laws? Dubai wants a warning when you are describing components of their endless list of illegal substances such as poppy seed buns? Religious content warnings? Homosexuality in Indonesia or Malaysia? Warning of woman wearing a t-shirt rather than a burka in Saudi Arabia?

This whole thing will open a can of worms.

[lowlow]

Hi Kireb, exactly, EU won't be able to argue with other ridiculous demands either as they've imposed this. I can only imagine in a few years time having to physically sign documents before seeing any content. The easiest route would be with your ISP, sign a ONE-off document that says "I am aware most sites use cookies, may contain peanuts, AND I am aware of how to disable cookies completely or for individual websites"