What is the `__gads` Cookie?

Set by Google Ad Manager (Google LLC). Expires after 13 months.

Purpose

Used by Google Ad Manager and AdSense to measure ad interactions, cap how often an ad is shown, and prevent the same ad from repeating.

Set on sites that display Google ads. The ad tag must be blocked until the visitor accepts marketing cookies.

Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites to display relevant advertisements. Consent is required under GDPR.

Under GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, the __gads cookie requires explicit user consent before it can be set. This means:

The cookie must not be set when a user first visits your site — not even for a fraction of a second
A consent banner must be displayed, and the user must actively accept analytics/marketing cookies
If the user rejects or ignores the banner, this cookie must remain blocked
The cookie must be listed in your cookie policy with its name, purpose, and retention period
Users must be able to withdraw consent at any time, which must also remove or invalidate this cookie

Block it by default — configure your Consent Management Platform (CMP) or tag manager to prevent Google Ad Manager from loading until the user accepts marketing cookies.
Include it in your consent categories — map it to the "Marketing / Advertising" category in your CMP configuration.
List it in your cookie policy — document the cookie name, purpose, provider (Google LLC), and expiry (13 months).
Sign a DPA — ensure you have a Data Processing Agreement with Google LLC covering their use of data collected via this cookie.
Verify it works — in an incognito browser, reject cookies and confirm __gads is not set.

Cookie	Category	Duration
__gpi	Marketing / Advertising	13 months

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