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

[stapel]

Yeesh! I'm an American publisher, and this thread is the first I've heard of this policy. Seems odd that Google hasn't breathed a word of this to us.

Eliz.

[ember]

Which is why I am not THAT worried. A little worried, yes, but I'm always a little worried.

[RedBar]

Seems odd that Google hasn't breathed a word of this to us.

It's Google crap, can't anyone see what they trying to create?

Obfuscation...hey EU, we've told our publishers what they have to do to comply however they don't understand what they supposedly "need" to do ... Why? Because Google's trying to move the goalposts to suit THEIR agendae.

The EU conformity is out there, it's easy, Google are trying to eff with YOUR heads!

I am NOT changing one freakin' single thing on my sites since I know mine are compliant and IF Google ain't happy they can go take a long walk off a short pier!

[Whatagreatdayitis]

There's a good article in the most recent edition of Bloomberg about how Google "lost Europe." It provides some context regarding the issue being discussed here. [bloomberg.com...]

[Leosghost]

Vestager's greatest asset ( and Google's biggest problem in Europe ) is her search history..

[Leosghost]

re "cookies"..adsense publisher sites do not "set" Google cookies, nor can they "read" Google cookies, nor do they "use" Google cookies..

The EU cookie legislation only requires webmasters to give choices about cookies which the webmasters themselves set..and to notify that other 3rd parties may also be able to set cookies when you visit the site in question, the EU does not hold webmasters responsible fo the setting, nor the use of these 3rd party cookies..Google cookies included *..

The EU cookie legislation was only brought about due to the abuse of tracking cookies by facebook and Google ( the latter via adsense, analytics and doubleclick )..Google "persuaded" certain EU officials not to single them out, and to make the law apply to all sites that set or read cookies..

Now that Eric's friend Almunia is gone, Google are trying to rewrite the EU cookie law in the perception of adsense webmasters, and the public in general..

The EU are not forcing adsense publishers to comply with this law, the EU law requires Google to provide cookie transparence and opt outs where Google set and read cookies..if that is on adsense publisher sites ( or sites which use Ganalytics ) the EU considers that it is for Google to comply..the EU do not require individual site owners to consider themselves responsible for cookies set by third parties ( in this instance Google )..Google are trying to throw the blame for their cookie abuse and their non compliance ( not providing a way themselves for visitors to sites which run adsense , Ganalytics or doubleclick, and that thus have cookies set by Google ) onto the individual webmasters..

To read many of the comments on this thread..Google appear to have been successful in propagating this FUD ..many appear to think that this is the fault of the EU..it is not..

It is ( yet again ) Google trying to sidestep the law, or laws which do not suit it, and push the responsibility onto others..

Having failed to force ( lobby ) the EU into letting them do what they wanted, they are hoping that webmasters ( who it appears are willing to blame anyone except Google as long as the adsense checks keep rolling in, and or the share price keeps rising ) might be vocal enough to push the EU into letting Google have a free pass on cookies and tracking..

* of course Google do not tell webmasters this..they instead threaten to ban the adsense accounts of webmasters who do not "take responsibility" ( by publishing an EU cookie policy that Google approves of )..So..if you are a landlord..( website owner ) you are responsible for any crimes that your tenants ( Google ) commit..or so Google would like everyone to think..

[IanTurner]

Like IanCP my site doesn't set cookies, it would be really nice if Google gave us an option to have cookie free ads when creating an ad unit - that would give us an alternative solution that might be nicer than consent bars to implement.

I'm still absolutely baffled by the EU government though - they are making the internet harder for their own people to use and thus creating a significant commercial disadvantage for EU countries (think of the cumulative amount of time EU people spend clicking cookie consent buttons on every website that they visit!) This whole policy was the result of letting braindead morons who have no understanding of the commercial world try to come up with a solution.

IMHO a much better solution would have been for them to approach browser vendors/distributors and give them a grant to implement cookie blocking in their browsers with geolocation so that EU users would be presented with choices such as 'Block All Cookies', 'Give Me A Cookie Block Option For Each Website I Visit' and 'Allow All Cookies' when they installed the browser. This would have given them a much smaller population to police, made the vast majority of their populations life much easier and still provided the same (or better) level of privacy protection as their current solution.

[vordmeister]

The EU made a badly thought out law. If Google want to use that against the EU then my issue is with the EU for writing the law so badly in the first place. The law already applies to me but I have been breaking it about 1 million times a day for the last 4 years. With the google requirement it doesn't make sense to spend time updating my smaller sites.

Amazon and the like seem to have done something similar with the digital sales VAT law, and the badly thought out EU law that came out of that means I had to give up selling very small volumes of software (or sell them through Amazon!).

I've been trying to make a neat solution that won't distract too much. A static footer or header maybe. I'm not good at javascript, but a PHP solution would require a page refresh to dismiss the message. What is everyone else doing?

[bhukkel]

A static footer or header maybe. I'm not good at javascript, but a PHP solution would require a page refresh to dismiss the message

Just put this in your onclick handler of the Ok button:

onclick="setCookie('cookies_enabled', 'y', 365);document.getElementById('EU_Cookie_Message').hidden=1;"

setCookie is my own function. Second statement hides the Div element which contains the message. So you do not need to refresh the page.

[RedBar]

What is everyone else doing?

I use a very much simplified version of what Statcounter does and remember Statcounter is a top 600 site, Irish and operating under EU rules:

[statcounter.com...]

Reading from:

Third Party Advertiser Cookies

This puts the onus firmly on Google/whichever adco and clearly informs the visitor about third party cookies about which you have no control but the visitor can do if they so wish.

Mods: Hope the above link is ok?

[vordmeister]

Thanks @bhukkel

That seems to work. Your code with the spaces filled in by someone who knows nothing about Javascript (works when bunged onto a PHP page somewhere).

<script>
function setCookie(cname, cvalue, exdays) {
 var d = new Date();
 d.setTime(d.getTime() + (exdays*24*60*60*1000));
 var expires = "expires="+d.toUTCString();
 document.cookie = cname + "=" + cvalue + "; " + expires;
} 
</script> 
<?php
if(!isset($_COOKIE['eucookies'])) {
?>
<div id="eucookies">Because of a <a href="privacy-policy.htm">stupid EU law</a> we need tell you 
 we use cookies. <a href="privacy-policy.htm">Read more</a> | <a href="" onclick="setCookie('eucookies', 'y', 365);document.getElementById('eucookies').hidden=1;">Dismiss</a></div>
<?php
}
?> 

It is useful to be able to bung the code anywhere on the page, but it might be refined by offering the javascript version in javascript, then offering a different noscript version to those who do not accept javacscipt so they can dismiss the message too. Those who don't accept cookies will be stuck, but we can only code the possible.

[bhukkel]

@vordmeister

i do not know how many non_EU visitors you have but i would add a GEO lookup in the IF statement.

[vordmeister]

Almost entirely EU until we get the UK referendum in the next couple of years. I did a quick poll and 78% are planning to vote out so fingers crossed.

The EU rubbish can be quite discreet at the bottom of the page. I haven't finished my CSS for the message but here it is at the moment:

#eucookies {
  position:fixed;
  left:0px;
  bottom:0px;
  height:20px;
  width:100%;
  background:#ccc;
}

[Leosghost]

A shame that UK internal politics ( and your UKIP aligned position ) makes up 50% of what would otherwise be your helpful posts..
Here is not the place for political remarks..and is well "off topic"..

What Google is requiring from webmasters as regards to notifying visitors about 3rd party cookies etc ( as stated in the OP ) is not required from webmasters by the EU..

The EU requires that webmasters notify about cookies that the webmaster sets..not those set by Google..

[bhukkel]

I am still wondering how Google would react with all those fixed banners hiding the ads while scrolling. This is against here policy.

[Leosghost]

Knowing Google, they'(d)ll ban some webmasters for using the fixed "cookie" banners, ( as you say..if they cover adsense it is against adsense TOS ) and hope that some webmasters will say it is the EU's fault that some webmasters got banned..apparently there will be some webmasters that will fall for Google's FUD if that happened..

technically Google could even say that such banners are "drawing attention to ads" and as such ban one for doing precisely what Google insist that one does..not that making illogical actions or contradictory or misleading*,policies and statements ever worried Google..

* I could have said dishonest there..and still been totally correct..possibly not politically correct..but definitely factually correct..

[robzilla]

...is not required from webmasters by the EU.

The EU doesn't actually require anything of webmasters. It imposes certain rules on all member states, and each country then creates its own cookie laws, which will incorporate but may still differ from (indeed be stricter than) the original guidelines.

[Leosghost]

I presume that you would thus agree with me that the EU has never ( nor have any EU member states ) required what Google is insisting that all adsense publishers ( no matter where they may be , as long as they have even one EU based visitor ) do..
Require notifying visitors about 3rd party cookies via optin/opt out cookie policies when the visitor arrives at the site..
The EU, via member states requires webmasters to notify about cookies which the website itself sets..if indeed the website sets any..
This is not the EU, nor any EU member state requiring notifying visitors about 3rd party cookies ..this is Google..

[RedBar]

This is not the EU, nor any EU member state requiring notifying visitors about 3rd party cookies ..this is Google..

Absolutely, 6 pages and it's finally getting through however do remember that if YOUR site is setting cookies that's a different thing altogether.

[robzilla]

The EU, via member states requires webmasters to notify about cookies which the website itself sets

I'm not sure about the exact contents of the EU directive, but many member states, such as The Netherlands, require you to not just notify of but also seek permission for all tracking cookies, first- and third-party, placed by or through your website, with exceptions for Analytics and the like, but only under strict circumstances (e.g. force SSL, disable data sharing, anonymize IPs). The emphasis with these cookie laws has always been on third-party cookies, and I don't think you can get away with saying you're not responsible for the placement of third-party cookies through your website.

[Leosghost]

The Netherlands has ( from what I have been told, I don't read the Dutch* language fluently at all ) what is probably the strictest version/ interpretation of "the EU cookie law"..which does indeed require that the webmaster notify all visitors of 3rd party cookies ( if they are placed by the 3rd party sites ) however it ( "the EU cookie law" ) does not make the webmaster "responsible" for the 3rd party cookies, because the webmaster cannot know what ( if any ) cookies are placed by 3rd parties, nor if when 3rd parties place cookies, if they place the same cookies to each visitor from the EU, or if they "tailor" the cookies according to which EU country the visitor is in at the time of their visit..
the webmaster also cannot know what the 3rd party does with the data that they receive when they read a cookie that they have placed on the visitor machine..the webmaster cannot read the cookie(s)..in fact they do not have any way of knowing if a 3rd party actually places a cookie or cookies or not, nor of what type they may be, nor of what duration..

The emphasis has always been on what we refer to as 3rd party cookies, this is why session cookies, and those required to hold data for shopping carts etc were not included in the "EU webmaster must notify and obtain consent from the visitor" parts of the directive..

The EU ( who both Google and facebook "advised"/lobbied/"persuaded" on the matter prior to the issuing of the directive..some might say "advised" with the aim of totally obfuscating the issues and the responsibilities, and technical abilities and possibilities of the 1st ( webmasters ) and 3rd ( Google and facebook ) parties in the minds of the woefully ignorant EU officials and politicians..those EU officials who did understand some of the issues, unfortunately for us ( but fortunately for Google and facebook ) raised no objections to the fact that the EU directive did not put the onus to notify and obtain permission squarely upon the 3rd party entities, and left it vague..which was exactly what Google and facebook wanted..Although the texts, at least in English and French do say "applies to websites that use and store" cookies..We all know ( I hope ) that, websites don't store cookies on the site, scripts on them may read cookies that they have set on visitor machines, but they don't store them on the website..and if the site didn't "set" the cookies, it cannot "use" them, because, it cannot "read" them..But of course Google and facebook know this, as we do, they also know that the concern was never with what webmasters do with cookies, only with what Google and facebook et al do with the tracking and profiling of EU citizens when they set cookies via the calls to their systems from webmasters pages..Almunia pretty much wrote what Eric told him to, and the EU officials signed off on it..

Now Google are expecting major incoming flack ( on a number of counts , including the privacy and tracking ones ) from Vestager ( who, like virtually all women will not have things in her search history that might leave her open to "persuasion" )..so ..They are "blame shifting", "responsibility shifting", in the hope that those amongst the EU officials who do not understand the technicalities might "persuade" Vestager to "ease off on them directly over the privacy thing"..and some "uproar" and EU blaming from webmasters ( who, if they run adsense, wherever they might be based, will blame anyone but the hand of the plex that distributes the webmaster welfare )..It might work, Vestager might be persuaded by others in EU officialdom that the privacy/tracking thing is too complex to implement, and not to insist that Google , facebook et al stop or at least severely curtail it..

I personally hope that she stands her ground..

Despite the fact that it was never in the spirit of the EU directive that webmasters would have to take responsibilty for 3rd party cookies placed by Google or facebook et al ( what about "social buttons", that track visitors when placed on webpages ? ), the fact that Google are now "blame shifting" and "responsibility shifting" the notification and acceptance issues onto webmasters who run adsense ( at pain of losing their accounts if the webmasters do not do what Google says )..it is really not much inconvenience, nor effort, to add such notifications to any of our sites or pages..Anyone could have written the required scripts in the time it has taken them to read this thread..

As to customers ( visitors) being "put off" by the presence of such "notifications"..Those of us who live within the EU, or who run sites with EU traffic, or who run EU based sites, or even who merely surf EU sites, already know that both we , and our customers/visitors just click "Ok" and continue on sites that "notify"..we have been doing so since a couple of years or so already..No "fall off in traffic"..No "huge" ( or even insignificantly small ) numbers of visitors who "back out" or "bounce" because of such notifications..Thoe of us who are EU based ( and who already implemented such things ) know this, our logs are the proof..

We should not have to do this,( but that would require Google to not be sneaky and misleading, and maybe even to stop tracking, aint gonna happen while Eric is in charge ) but it isn't going to hurt our sites..Those of us in the EU who have already been doing it on our sites whether adsense or ecom, know this..

edited..Some types of analytics are "exempt"..Ganalytics is not ( and thus sites which use it are not "exempt" )..see the site I linked to in my first post in this thread for explanation as to the types of Cookies that Ganalytics sets..

*Is it even called the Dutch language, or is it Flemish ? In France it is referred to as "Flamand"

[Leosghost]

ps..Maybe Google will buy Maxmind..or give away a geo IP database system access to webmasters..
or provide a "cookie text" ( they say that they can't, but they don't say why they can't ?..I think that the long answer is plausible deniabilty..the short answer is "lawyers" ) But maybe they'll give everyone a ready made Geo IP look up script, with a step by step "how to use it to implement cookie compliance notification for EU visitors"..

Maybe I'll win the EU lottery..

[IanTurner]

As an aside - this EU cookie law could be the thing that will flip the UK referendum vote from staying in the EU to pulling out, as it will be something most people will see as an irritation caused by being in the EU.

[Badger37]

@bhukkel
I am still wondering how Google would react with all those fixed banners hiding the ads while scrolling. This is against here policy.

I've started to look at that too!

I'm using Silktide's banner - all their themes fixed or popup could technically cover ads while scrolling. Google list them as a 'vendor' on the cookiechoices.org website so you would hope they won't start banning people!

In theory a top loading banner that scrolls with the site like the UK Government use would fit their terms better: [gov.uk...]

[RedBar]

In theory a top loading banner that scrolls with the site like the UK Government use would fit their terms better:

I don't think this conforms since I just tested it and it only appears on the main index page. I entered several search terms and all the results delivered me pages without any cookie notification and only a cookie information link at the very bottom of the page.

Try searching for car tax online and you'll see what I mean.

IMHO their index page implementation is fine though.

[Badger37]

It is on all pages - but they set a cookie so you only see the banner once.
I've also implemented things like that.

A good way to test things (very useful when developing!) is to use your browsers 'private window/incognito' so you don't get retained cookies :)

[RedBar]

Hmmm...ah yep, I allow cookies on Firefox however delete them when closing but on Opera I don't allow them at all and that does show it correctly.

I don't use GA but noticed this:

We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use GOV.UK.

<snip>

We don’t allow Google to use or share our analytics data.

Is that possible with GA?

[bhukkel]

Yes you can turn data sharing off

[support.google.com...]

[dolcevita]

Just reading this on [adexchanger.com...]

A Google spokesperson said its policy does not specify if publishers need to obtain consent before dropping cookies.
Google also left notification language up to publishers in its website cookiechoices.org, which will help publishers make the switch. But that, too, can be highly subjective.

[vordmeister]

Adsense is served using JavaScript so a notification completely written in JavaScript should satisfy Google. It might even satisfy the EU if you argue that people who turn JavaScript off probably know about cookies already. A JavaScript only solution would protect those visitors who already have cookies switched off so can't dismiss the message.

Another benefit of JavaScript is the whole thing could be included in the same file that serves the ads, avoiding messing with the head section which can be tricky in some software. I'm a convert - planning to learn how to use it unless someone would be kind enough to post very simple code.

I'm now aiming for a simple static message in the left of the scren. "We use cookies. More | Dismiss" which fits on a single line of an iphone without having to mess making it responsive.