On Monday, 27th July 2015, Google made a big change to it's cookie policy. It is now more complicated to get cookies from any visitor in the European Union. This policy requires publishers with site visitors from the European Union to ask permission for using their data.
Anyone now using Google products and services, including Google AdSense, DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange, as well as those sites or apps that have visitors arriving from the European Union will be affected.
The change is in direct response to a change the European Union data protection authorities have made to their laws. Google’s Security & Privacy Program Manager, Display and Video Ads, Jason Woloz has said “it has always been Google’s policy to comply with privacy laws, so we’ve agreed to make certain changes affecting our own products and partners using Google products.”
Publishers will now have to implement a user consent mechanism to comply with EU data protection laws. Google have stated that they cannot offer a consent message that publishers can use so have set up a free tool called cookiechoices.org to make the process easier for its publishers. It informs publishers of help for how they can meet their legal obligations to get user consent.
Google has said that can publishers please ensure that you comply with this policy as soon as possible, and no later than 30th September 2015.
So make sure you comply before then to avoid any consequences for your website. The clock is ticking.