By now, most businesses have some form of cookie consent in place, whether it’s a basic banner or a full system. But as we move toward better tracking methods and privacy-focused analytics, it’s worth checking if consent management platforms and your current setup actually helps your data strategy or just meets basic legal requirements.
The situation has improved since the early days of privacy laws. What started as a rush to add cookie banners has become a better understanding of consent as the foundation of trustworthy analytics. This matters even more as we shift toward server-side tracking where consent decisions affect data quality and measurement accuracy.
What are Consent Management Platforms?
Consent Management Platforms (CMP) is software that handles cookie consent properly. It’s the upgraded version of those basic cookie banners that just say “Accept All.”
Here’s what a CMP does:
- Shows cookie banners that meet legal requirements
- Saves user choices so you can prove people gave consent
- Tells your tools (like Google Analytics) what they can and can’t track
- Keeps records in case regulators ask questions
- Works globally by showing different options based on local laws
- Adapts by geolocation: users see the right banner depending on their country’s regulations
- Scans your site: finds cookies, pixels, and scripts, ensuring none are missed
- Classifies assets: groups cookies and trackers into categories (analytics, marketing, necessary)
Consent Management Platforms are basically the smart systems behind the cookie banner, making sure everything works legally while keeping users informed.
Why Consent Management Platforms Matter for Your Business
Our 2025 Recommended Privacy Roadmap
1. Legal Compliance Made Easy
Different countries have different privacy rules (GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California, and Australia’s Privacy Act with its upcoming reforms). CMPs automatically show the right consent options based on where your visitors are located, so you don’t need to become a privacy law expert for every jurisdiction you operate in.
For Australian businesses, this is particularly relevant as the Privacy Act reforms introduce stricter consent requirements and higher penalties. What might have been acceptable under the old Privacy Act won’t cut it under the new rules.
2. Better Data Quality
Without a proper consent management platform, you risk collecting data illegally, which creates legal liability and limits how you can use your analytics. You might face fines, be forced to delete data, or be restricted from using insights for advertising and other business purposes. CMPs work with tools like Google Analytics to make sure you get useful data while following the rules.
Check out our Consent Management Banner step-by-step setup guide
3. Protect Your Ad Spending
Advertising platforms like Google and Facebook use consent signals to enable personalised ads and accurate measurement. Without proper consent management, you lose access to advanced targeting features and get less accurate data about ad performance, which can lead to higher costs and missed opportunities.
For businesses running campaigns beyond Australia, this is already critical. Both Google Ads and Microsoft Ads now enforce consent requirements in the EU. Without a CMP properly passing consent signals, advertisers lose conversion tracking and remarketing capabilities in those regions. That means wasted spend and invisible performance — even if everything looks compliant at home.
4. Build Trust with Users
People care more about privacy now. A clear, honest consent experience builds trust, while annoying or confusing banners frustrate users and make them leave your site.
Simple Banner vs. Full CMP: What’s the Difference?
| Feature | Basic Banner | CMP |
| Shows cookie notice | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Saves consent choices | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Works in different countries | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Connects to your marketing tools | Limited | ✔️ |
| Let users change their minds later | ❌ | ✔️ |
If you only operate in one country with simple compliance needs, a basic banner might work. But if you’re growing internationally, spending money on ads, or handling sensitive data, you need a proper CMP.
Popular Consent Management Platforms
Consent Management Platforms Comparison: Our Findings
Based on our internal evaluation, we compared five popular solutions, including three major CMPs: OneTrust, CookieYes, and Cookiebot (Usercentrics). These were scored across value proposition, features, documentation, global adoption, pricing, and overall assessment.
| OneTrust | CookieYes | Cookiebot (Usercentrics) | Didomi | InMobi CMP | |
| Value Proposition | High – enterprise-grade, scalable, integrates global frameworks | High – easy to use, good for SMEs | High – automated, compliant, best for SMEs | Medium – API-first, developer-friendly, flexible UX | Medium – lightweight, focused on publishers/app developers |
| Features | High – strongest in geolocation rules, cookie categorisation, vendor definition | Medium – strong scanning, templates, but less advanced rules | Medium – solid scanning & blocking, but weaker geolocation | Medium – strong APIs, but smaller ecosystem | Low–Medium – limited compared to enterprise-grade CMPs |
| Documentation & Support | High – comprehensive, detailed guides | Medium – sufficient, but lighter | Medium – sufficient but less detailed | Medium – decent but less extensive | Low – basic documentation only |
| Global Adoption | High – 30,000+ customers incl. Microsoft, Cisco, J&J | Medium – growing since 2019, smaller reach | High – 100,000+ websites, strong EU footprint | Medium – used by tech-savvy teams, mostly EU/US | Low – mainly focused on app/publisher niche |
| Pricing | Medium – $33–$45 per domain, enterprise up to $2k/mo | High – $10–$40/mo | High – €9–€50/mo | Medium – customised pricing | High – free or very low cost CMP for publishers |
| Personal Assessment | High – best for large enterprises, but complex and costly | Medium – good for SMEs, straightforward | Medium – good for SMEs, straightforward | Medium – flexible, but requires dev resources | Low–Medium – niche solution with limited features |
| Overall Score | ★★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★ |
In Marketing We Trust Recommendation: OneTrust is recommended as the most robust solution due to its enterprise readiness and global compliance coverage. CookieYes and Cookiebot are cost-effective, simpler solutions suitable for SMEs. Didomi suits tech-oriented teams needing flexibility, while InMobi CMP works best for publishers, it is limited for broader enterprise use.
How to Choose the Right Consent Management Platform
When picking a CMP, think about:
- Legal coverage: Does it work in all countries where you have visitors? (Essential for Australian businesses serving both local and international markets)
- Easy setup: Can it connect to your existing tools without headaches?
- Customisation: Can you make it match your website’s look and feel?
- User experience: Will it be easy for visitors to understand and use?
- Cost: Balance the monthly fee against the risk of legal fines (which can now reach millions under Australia’s updated Privacy Act)
The Future: Why CMPs Are Becoming More Important
Consent Management Platforms are evolving as tracking technology changes:
Server-Side Tracking: Better Control
Consent is still collected client-side through the banner. What changes with server-side tracking is that once consent is recorded, it can be applied centrally in the server container. This makes it easier to control which tags fire, standardise how consent rules are enforced across platforms, and adapt vendor behaviour in a compliant way.
- Faster websites
- Better control over what data goes where
- Fewer technical problems with consent
New Privacy Technology
As third-party cookies disappear, new privacy-friendly advertising methods are emerging:
- Google’s Privacy Sandbox APIs – Topics (interest-based), Protected Audience (remarketing without cross-site tracking), and Attribution Reporting (privacy-focused performance measurement).
- First-party data strategies – building marketing on the customer data you collect directly.
- Contextual advertising – showing ads based on page content rather than user profiles.
- Privacy-preserving measurement – campaign insights without exposing individual user data.
Google and others are developing new frameworks (like the Privacy Sandbox) to make this possible. Consent Management Platforms don’t control these technologies directly yet, but they are adapting so that whatever the future of tracking looks like, user consent remains at the centre.
From Checkbox to Strategy
CMPs are evolving beyond basic compliance for several reasons:
Why this is happening:
- Data quality issues – Businesses realised that bad consent leads to unreliable analytics and wasted ad spend
- Competitive advantage – Companies with better consent experiences get more opt-ins and better data
- Platform requirements – Google, Meta, and others now require proper consent signals for their best features
- Cost of getting it wrong – GDPR fines totalled €1.2 billion across Europe in 2024, with individual penalties reaching hundreds of millions for major companies
How it’s changing:
- CMPs now integrate directly with marketing tools instead of just showing banners
- They’re being used to manage first-party data collection, not just cookies
- Consent data is becoming part of customer profiles and marketing automation
- They’re influencing ad targeting and measurement strategies
Timeline: This shift accelerated rapidly between 2021–2024 as major browsers blocked third-party cookies and iOS introduced App Tracking Transparency. Many businesses are still moving from basic cookie banners to integrated consent strategies.
In Australia, the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 commenced on 10 December 2024, introducing stronger OAIC powers and a three-tier penalty regime with fines up to AUD 50m+. A new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy starts by 10 Jun 2025, and transparency rules for automated decision-making from December 2026. Broader reforms (Tranche 2) are expected soon.
Timeline – Privacy Act Reforms (2022–2025)
Final Thoughts: Building for Server-Side Success
Your CMP choice today will determine how easily you can upgrade to better tracking methods tomorrow. While a basic banner might handle current legal needs, a proper CMP becomes essential when you want more control over your data and better performance.
Learn more about server-side tracking and how it solves disappearing data in our guide on server-side solutions.
Coming up in this series:
- First-Party Data Activation: Leveraging the data you own instead of relying on tracking
- Secondary Analytics: Cookieless measurement that provides full visibility while respecting privacy
- Marketing Data Warehouse MVP: Centralising all your data sources for complete performance visibility
The goal isn’t just following the law, it’s building a measurement system that respects user privacy while giving you the insights you need to grow. With solutions like Matomo’s privacy-focused approach, you can often get better data quality than traditional analytics setups.
