In April 2025, Google replaced Limited ads and Technical ad delivery with an updated serving mode : Limited ads 2.0. This update, according to Google, was designed to simplify their ad serving offerings and provide publishers with more feature-rich ad serving options across low data-processing purpose availability. In this article, we will cover how to configure your GDPR TCF vendor list to support Google Limited Ads 2.0 functionality.
- Google Limited Ads 2.0 overview
- GDPR TCF requirements for Google Limited Ads 2.0
- Prerequisites
- Configure GDPR TCF vendor list for Google Limited Ads 2.0
Google Limited Ads 2.0 overview
Google Limited Ads is designed to allow publishers to serve ads in a restricted manner when end-user consent is not obtained for the use of cookies or other local identifiers (as defined by IAB TCF Purpose 1: "Store and/or access information on a device").
Under the IAB TCF v2.2 framework, serving standard Non-Personalized Ads (NPA) often still requires consent for Purpose 1 (for uses like frequency capping, aggregated reporting, fraud prevention). Limited Ads provide a fallback mechanism to monetize traffic when this consent is absent by relying on other TCF signals.
Some key characteristics of Google Limited Ads are:
- No Cookies/Local Identifiers: Designed to function without accessing or using cookies or local device identifiers for ad targeting or measurement purposes governed by Purpose 1 consent.
- Restricted Functionality: Features like frequency capping, audience targeting, conversion tracking metrics reliant on local identifiers, and certain reporting metrics (e.g., unique reach) are unavailable.
GDPR TCF requirements for Google Limited Ads 2.0
In order for Google to attempt the serving of Limited Ads via the TCF v2.2 signal, the following conditions must be met by the GDPR TCF Transparency and Consent (TC) string generated by any CMP for an end-user:
- No consent for Purpose 1: The user has not granted consent for Purpose 1 ("Store and/or access information on a device").
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TCF purposes required:
- Special Purposes: 1, 2 (Disclosure only)
- Either Consent or Legitimate Interest for Purpose 7 ("Measure advertising performance")
Prerequisites
Before continuing with any configuration please ensure that your organization meets the following criteria:
- Your organization uses Google Advertising Products (Ad Manager, AdSense, Admob) to serve ads to end-users in the EEA, UK, and/or Switzerland.
- Your organization's GDPR TCF vendor list and message are configured and active on your relevant properties. If not, please reach out to your dedicated Sourcepoint account manager.
Important Considerations
In addition to the above prerequisites, we also recommend that your organization review and discuss the following before continuing with your configuration:
- Legal Consultation: The choice between relying on Legitimate Interest versus requiring Consent for Purposes 2, 7, 9, and 10 for Google (or any vendor) should be discussed with your legal counsel to ensure compliance with GDPR and local regulations.
- Programmatic Limited Ads: Your organization may need to enable "Programmatic limited ads" within your Google Ad Manager network settings (Admin > Global settings > Network settings) if it's not already enabled.
- Re-consent: Adding new vendors or changing the legal basis required for existing vendors/purposes in your Sourcepoint vendor list may trigger a re-consent request for returning end-users, depending on your campaign scenario settings. Review your scenario configuration ("Show Message Always", "Vendor List Additions", "Legal Basis Changes") before saving major vendor list changes. Click here for more information.
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Testing: After configuration, test scenarios where end-users reject consent for Purpose 1 but accept (or allow via Legitimate Interest) Purposes 2, 7, 9, 10. Observe network requests to confirm if ad requests are being made and potentially filled as Limited Ads (often indicated by specific parameters in the ad request URL, like
&lad=1).
Configure GDPR TCF vendor list for Google Limited Ads 2.0
In this section we will cover how to configure an existing GDPR TCF vendor list so that it supports Google Limited Ads 2.0.
Click Vendor Management on the left-hand panel and select GDPR TCF from the subsequent menu.
Select a vendor list from the subsequent page of click New to create a new GDPR TCF vendor list.
Navigate to the Select property(s) this list applies to field and ensure your desired property is added to the list.
Note: Users can only add properties and/or property groups to the vendor list to which they have Property access.
Confirm that the vendor Google Advertising Product is added to the vendor list (this is the primary vendor required for Limited Ads 2.0 ad serving). Otherwise your organization can add the vendor to your GDPR TCF vendor list by clicking Manage Vendors & Cookies.
Ensure the Vendors radio button is selected in the subsequent modal. Click All System Vendors.
Use the provided search bar to search for Google Advertising Product. Select the vendor by clicking the checkbox to the left of the vendor name. Click Add to selected vendors button when finished.
Click Save when finished.
Navigate to the Google Advertising Products vendor on your vendor list and review the legal basis for Purpose 7 ("Measure advertising performance"). Depending on your organization's use case, the legal basis for this purpose must be set to either User Consent or Legitimate Interest.
Note: If the legal bases for Purpose 7 ("Measure advertising performance") is set to Not Allowed than Limited Ads will not be served.
Perform any other necessary updated to your GDPR TCF vendor list and click Save in the vendor list builder to confirm the changes.
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