MaxtDesign Cookie Consent – Google Consent Mode v2 vs Search Analytics for WP

The MaxtDesign Cookie Consent Manager That Actually Works Most WordPress consent plugins either don’t actually control tracking (they just show a form) or they’re so bloated they slow down your site significantly. MaxtDesign Cookie Consent is different: proper Google Consent Mode v2 implementation in under 10KB. Why This Plugin? For Site Owners: You need CCPA/GDPR compliance but don’t want to sacrifice site performance or deal with complex configuration. For Developers: You want clean, efficient code that follows WordPress standards and doesn’t conflict with other plugins. For Agencies: You manage multiple client sites and need a reliable, lightweight solution that just works. Key Features ✓ Actually Controls Tracking Unlike “checkbox theater” plugins that only show forms, this plugin properly implements Google Consent Mode v2, ensuring GA4 and Google Ads respect user choices. ✓ Blazing Fast (<10KB) Zero performance overhead. No database queries during page load. Pure localStorage-based consent management. ✓ Three Style Presets Choose from Minimal, Modern, or Bold popup styles. Customize colors to match your brand. ✓ Works Everywhere Compatible with any theme. Works with Elementor (optional). Mobile responsive. Accessibility compliant (WCAG 2.1 AA). ✓ Developer-Friendly Clean code following WordPress standards. Two shortcodes for easy integration. No jQuery dependency. Vanilla JavaScript. ✓ WP Consent API Ready Acts as a provider for the WordPress Consent API standard. With the free WP Consent API plugin active, your visitors’ choices are respected site-wide by WooCommerce and other consent-aware plugins automatically. ✓ Privacy-First No server-side user tracking. No external API calls. User consent stored locally. GDPR/CCPA compliant by design. What is Google Consent Mode v2? Google Consent Mode v2 (GCM v2) became mandatory in March 2024 for GA4 and Google Ads in the EU. It’s Google’s framework for managing user consent signals across their advertising and analytics products. This plugin implements all four required consent types: analytics_storage – Google Analytics cookies ad_storage – Advertising cookies ad_user_data – User data for advertising ad_personalization – Personalized advertising Without proper GCM v2 implementation, your GA4 and Google Ads tracking may be unreliable or non-compliant. How It Works Visitor arrives → Consent popup appears (customizable position, style, timing) User chooses → Three options: Accept All, Analytics Only, or Decline All Consent stored → User choice saved in localStorage (privacy-friendly, no server tracking) GCM signals updated → Google Analytics and Ads respect the user’s choice immediately No repeat popup → Cookie remembers they’ve seen popup (configurable duration) Popup Customization Style Presets: * Minimal – Clean and subtle * Modern – Rounded and polished * Bold – Strong and prominent Position Options: * Top banner * Bottom banner * Center modal Animation Options: * Slide in * Fade in * No animation Color Customization: Primary color picker to match your brand Shortcodes Display Current Status: [mdcc_consent_status] Shows consent chips: “Analytics: On/Off” and “Ads: On/Off” Manage Consent Interface: [mdcc_manage_consent title="Your Privacy Choices"] Full consent management with Accept/Analytics/Decline buttons and current status display. Both shortcodes update in real-time when consent changes. Optional Elementor Integration Prefer to use a custom Elementor popup? Simply enter your Elementor Popup ID in settings, and the plugin will use your custom popup instead while maintaining proper GCM v2 functionality. Technical Specifications Size: <10KB total (CSS + JS combined, gzipped) Performance: Zero database queries during page load Storage: localStorage-based (no server-side user tracking) Dependencies: None (vanilla JavaScript, no jQuery) Compatibility: WordPress 5.8+, PHP 7.4+ Standards: WCAG 2.1 AA accessible, mobile responsive Perfect For WordPress sites using GA4 or Google Ads CCPA/GDPR compliance requirements Performance-conscious developers Agency client sites needing scalable consent management Anyone tired of bloated consent plugins What This Plugin Doesn’t Do Not a cookie scanner – Doesn’t automatically detect all cookies on your site Not a full compliance suite – Focuses on consent management for Google tracking Not multi-platform tracking – Free version handles GA4/Ads only (Pro version coming with Facebook, Hotjar, etc.) For comprehensive cookie auditing and multi-platform tracking control, consider our Pro version (launching 2025). Coming in Pro Version Facebook Pixel control Hotjar tracking control LinkedIn Insight Tag TikTok Pixel Custom script control Consent analytics dashboard Geolocation-based prompts White-label mode for agencies Privacy Policy MaxtDesign Cookie Consent does not collect, store, or transmit any user data. All consent preferences are stored locally in the user’s browser using localStorage. No information is sent to external servers. However, this plugin manages consent for third-party services (Google Analytics, Google Ads). Those services have their own privacy policies: Google Analytics Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy Google Ads Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads It is your responsibility to include appropriate disclosures in your site’s privacy policy about the tracking services you use. Support For support, please use the WordPress.org support forum. Credits Developed by MaxtDesign – https://maxtdesign.com Special thanks to the WordPress community for feedback and testing.

Search Analytics for WP will keep history of the search terms used by your users and group them in a set of statistics including the number of posts resulted from that search term. It can easily aid you in finding what your users are really searching for on your website and make sure you provide exactly what they need. Help and/or ideas are greatly appreciated! You can contribute to the GitHub repository: Search Analytics for WP NOTE: Search Analytics for WP stores all the statistics in your WordPress database. No info is sent to third-party services! Features Record all the search queries made using the standard WordPress search form. Exclude searches made by users with certain user roles or with certain IP addresses Exclude duplicate searches made in certain conditions Choose which user roles are allowed to see the statistics Filter statistics by time periods, with/without results, strings/substrings View each term individual statistics Export data in the current view to CSV Easily delete certain search terms from history Easily erase all history from the database in case a reset is needed Easily erase history older than in case a general cleanup is needed Dashboard widget for a quick glance over your last week’s search stats Multisite compatible Country Geolocation Display search statistics on the front of your website using shortcodes