The importance of Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) in the ad tech ecosystem is skyrocketing. In 2018, you had Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Two years later, you had the ​​ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). And in 2020, there was Brazil's General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD).

These laws were just the beginning as many additional states including California, Virginia, Utah, Colorado, and Connecticut have implemented new state-by-state online data privacy legislation in recent years.

There were online data privacy laws before, after, and between those listed above, but GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD alone combined to protect the online privacy of more than 1 billion people. For reference, that includes at least 13% of people on earth who, when they land on your website, are protected by a privacy regulation law that could land you in trouble if you violate it.

How in the world is a publisher supposed to manage all of that? With a CMP.

When you set out to implement one of these platforms, like any ad technology, you'll have many options. Below, we cut through the confusion by walking you through what a CMP is and where you can find the best CMPs in 2024.

Defining Consent Management Platform (CMP)

 

 

What is a Consent Management Platform?

  • The best CMP will inform website visitors that their data is being collected,
  •  Ask for users' permission to collect their data,
  • Store users' data preferences, and
  • Provide critical details and information about websites' cookie and data policies.

The top CMPs are designed with every current online privacy law in mind. As a publisher, you want to be able to integrate a single CMP and have it cover you all over the world. The top CMPs do exactly that.

Playwire covers every aspect of digital advertising for publishers. That includes consent management and data privacy. Need help? We’re here for you. Contact the team today.

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The Top Consent Management Platforms:

  1. OneTrust
  2. CookieYes
  3. Osano
  4. Usercentrics
  5. Quantcast Choice
  6. Secure Privacy
  7. Cookiebot
  8. DataGrail
  9. Piwik Pro
  10. TrustArc
  11. Ketch
  12. Sourcepoint

While most CMPs may do something relatively simple in terms of ad tech, they aren't all the same. As you research, you'll find plenty of platforms that market themselves as the "best CMP" that actually don't do the trick. But the CMPs below are all up to the challenge.

Note: This article is regularly reviewed and updated to keep the guidance current and the list up to date. If you feel something is missing from this list, please don't hesitate to contact us with your feedback or request.

OneTrust

OneTrust is a comprehensive CMP that offers consent management for websites, apps, and over-the-top (OTT) and connected TV (CTV) channels. It also offers preference management and "consent rate optimization," a tool designed to maximize the number of tracking opt-ins.

Publisher Benefits:

OneTrust's CMP is in place on more than 750,000 websites. In addition to the basic CMP functionality, this tool offers automated cookie categorization based on a database of 30 million pre-sorted cookies. It comes with a pre-built consent collection, opt-in templates, and location-triggered language shifting.

OneTrust Reviews:

OneTrust has a 4.1 out of 5 on Capterra, 8.4 out of 10 on TrustRadius, and a 4.3 out of 5 on G2. As far as software meant for publishers goes, those are pretty solid numbers. The positive reviewers tended to like the CMP's approach to simplifying GDPR compliance, but some said the support and guidance that come with it could be better.

Learn More About OneTrust

CookieYes

Focusing on GDPR and CCPA consent rules for websites, CookieYes has brought more than 1.2 million websites into the consent management fold. The platform supports more than 30 languages and maintains customer satisfaction of more than 97%.

Publisher Benefits:

This CMP offers a 100% customizable cookie consent banner and a website deep scanner meant to detect any of more than 100,000 cookies already on publisher sites. It also allows you to schedule monthly scans so you don't have to add another appointment to your packed calendar.

CookieYes Reviews:

With a 4.7 on Capterra and a 4.8 on G2, CookieYes is one of the highest-rated CMPs out there. Happy reviewers liked the tool's solid functionality and relatively low price, but others mentioned that CookieYes sometimes did not play well with other platforms, such as Shopify.

Learn More About CookieYes

Osano

Boasting integration with more than 750,000 websites and more than 3 billion consents per month, Osano calls itself the world's most popular consent management platform. This CMP simplifies integration by giving publishers a single line of JavaScript code to add to their sites and software development kits (SDKs).

Publisher Benefits:

Osano keeps a record of every consent on its blockchain, so records can never be modified or lost. For those publishers who are starting to feel some fear about legal action over changing customer consent laws, a verifiable blockchain record may serve as a nice bit of assurance.

Osano Reviews:

Reviews for Osano were sparse as of the time of publication. The only popular software review platform that had any reviews to speak of was G2, where Osano had an average rating of 4.6. The upsides tended to focus on ease of use and implementation, and the downsides were mostly about a lack of customization options for pop-ups and cookie banners.

Learn More About Osano

Usercentrics

Offering consent management for websites and apps, Usercentrics is a comprehensive CMP that also comes with a free consent management website auditing tool. The company is strong on documentation to keep your ad revenue audit-proof.

Publisher Benefits:

Usercentrics offers integrations with tons of popular workplace apps and platforms, including Google consent mode tools as well as, HubSpot, and Mailchimp. This tool doubles down on transparency when it comes to explaining cookies and what it means to opt-in to users, citing a Harvard study that found that transparency boosted opt-in rates.

Usercentrics Reviews:

Usercentrics has earned a 4.0 on Capterra, 6.5 on TrustRadius, and 3.6 on G2, making it relatively middle-of-the-pack when it comes to CMP reviews. Complaints about the user interface and customer relations dominated the negative reviews, while the positive reviews tended to mention the simplicity of implementation.

Learn More About Usercentrics

Quantcast Choice

While several of the top consent management partners in 2024 offer a free trial or free basic account, Quantcast Choice markets itself as a free CMP. Don't let that fool you into thinking this platform has less functionality. Quantcast is packed with customer consent mode and preference management features.

Publisher Benefits:

This CMP offers a free version and generally lower prices for enterprise offerings, which can be a big bonus for smaller publishers. The company also partners directly with select publishers to get feedback on its product and make meaningful updates.

Quantcast Choice Reviews:

With a 4.2 on Capterra and a 4.5 on G2, Quantcast Choice is a solid CMP choice for many publishers. Happy reviewers mentioned pluses like strong customer service and detailed reporting, while unhappy reviewers mentioned a limited ability to customize the tool.

Learn More About Quantcast Choice

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Secure Privacy

Secure Privacy is a simple, straightforward CMP that offers competitive pricing based on business size and supports privacy policies, cookie consent banners, and more in over 70 languages.

Publisher Benefits:

This CMP offers simple integration with every major content management system, including the big players like WordPress and HubSpot. According to the company website, it also boasts a simple setup process that can be completed for a single website in minutes.

Secure Privacy Reviews:

Secure Privacy handily outranks all of the best CMPs in terms of reviews and ratings. On Capterra, the tool has 5 out of five stars over dozens of reviews, and on G2, it has 4.9 out of more than 100 reviews. Customization and powerful compliance with major privacy and user consent laws around the world are the aspects that positive reviewers tend to call out. While the negatives in the reviewers were pretty slim, most had something to do with a lack of training and guidance materials and limited languages for the tool's dashboard.

Learn More About Secure Privacy

Cookiebot

Cookiebot is a sleek little CMP that automatically detects all the cookies on your website and blocks them until the website visitor gives their consent. In other words, it's more than just a consent banner and consent preference manager. Another handy feature: Cookiebot maintains a database of common third-party cookies and uses it to inform users about the purposes of the cookies that are currently tracking them.

Publisher Benefits:

This is cookie and consent management in its simplest form. Cookiebot automatically blocks all first- and third-party cookies until user consent to tracking is received. And once it's set up, the tool monitors for new kinds of cookies and tracking on your website. For publishers who lack the time, will, or technical expertise to dig into consent management, Cookiebot offers a straightforward consent solution.

Cookiebot Reviews:

Cookiebot had 5 stars on Capterra, a 6.5 out of 10 on TrustRadius, and 3.6 stars on G2. The main positive point tended to be that the tool does what it promises - cookie and consent management - simply and effectively. The main complaint appeared to be along those lines - the tool lacked some of the bells and whistles of competing CMPs.

Learn More About Cookiebot

DataGrail

DataGrail seeks to transcend the traditional functions of CMPs, and it appears to have done it. The platform provides the usual features of a CMP - consent management, preference management, and banners - but it also pulls in customer data from various other platforms your website or mobile app may use and creates a so-called " data map " to help you make the most of the user data you can legally collect.

Publisher Benefits:

DataGrail is a solid CMP for publishers who aren't comfortable on the tech side of data privacy regulations and consent management. That's because the tool offers what they call "no code onboarding" and the ability to manage your entire consent management operation in "minutes per week".

DataGrail Reviews:

DataGrail didn't have any reviews on Capterra or TrustRadius, but on G2, it garnered 73 reviews with an average of 4.8 stars. The most recurring positives were the simple onboarding and implementation process, which some reviewers described as "turnkey." On the negative side, reviewers mentioned concerns with the user interface and integrations with other tools.

Learn More About DataGrail

Piwik Pro

Piwik Pro offers the standard CMP features, but it spices them up with in-depth reporting and simple integrations with Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. The platform pays attention to the consent requirements of even the less well-known privacy laws, such as France's CNIL.

Publisher Benefits:

Piwik Pro offers a relatively powerful free version that preserves consent data for 14 months and provides up to 500,000 opt-in actions per month, so if you're looking to dip your toes into consent management and privacy compliance but don't have a big budget for it at the moment, this may be your tool of choice.

Piwik Pro Reviews:

Piwik Pro has commanded high marks on major software review sites. It had a 4.7 on Capterra, a 9.9 on TrustRadius, and a 4.7 on G2. The few complaints in the reviews tended to center on the user interface and the tool's ability to integrate with other platforms. However, the positives focused on reporting capabilities and ease of implementation.

Learn More About Piwik Pro

TrustArc

TrustArc has been in the cookie consent management business for more than seven years - longer than laws like GDPR have existed. That means this top CMP has a long view of consent management and has watched the industry evolve into what it is today. It offers a full suite of CMP features, including a gold-level offering to provide industry and regulatory updates every quarter.

Publisher Benefits:

This tool has devoted a fair share of its resources to working well for large-scale publishers, and that is likely at least partly why it boasts users like WebMD, Johnson & Johnson, and Boeing. But for any size publisher, TrustArc offers automated and end-to-end consent and privacy management.

TrustArc Reviews:

With 4.2 stars on G2 and a 6.5 on TrustRadius, TrustArc is a middle-of-the-pack CMP when it comes to user satisfaction. "Robust," "scalable," "hassle-free" and "transparent" were common adjectives in the positive reviews, and the negative reviews tended to say things like "confusing," "cumbersome" and high-priced.

Learn More About TrustArc

Ketch

Ketch delivers the infrastructure and API to ensure privacy consent choices are collected and always maintained. The Ketch Trust by Design Platform includes everything publishers need to deploy responsive consent solutions and offers pre-built templates for sustained compliance with GDPR, and CCPA/CPRA, among others, as well as customized solutions for publishers looking to build their policies.

Publisher Benefits:

In addition to customized privacy solutions for publishers, Ketch's native identity resolution recognizes users across different devices and channels to ensure customized privacy experiences for your visitors based on their specific preferences. Ketch's infrastructure is also lightweight and dynamic resulting in faster page load times while recording consent information and simultaneously processing it against legal legislation.

Ketch Reviews:

Receiving 4.5 stars out of 5 on G2, Ketch's platform has been praised for being very user-friendly. Customers have also noted a positive user experience during the implementation process as well as with Ketch's knowledgeable and responsive support team.

Learn More About Ketch

 

Sourcepoint

Since 2015, Sourcepoint has been helping some of the world’s most influential brands turn privacy compliance into a catalyst for better business outcomes. Sourcepoint offers flexible consent management solutions including custom user privacy experiences and its proprietary DIAGNOSE technology, which automates vendor assessments to close compliance gaps in your CMP vendor list, allowing you to gain better visibility into vendor behavior and to make more effective updates to your tech stack and consent strategy.

Publisher Benefits:

Sourcepoint also offers multi-regulation, global consent management from US state laws to regional interpretations of GDPR, making it easy to customize and localize consent messages across global audiences, and omnichannel support across web and mobile browsers, in-app, AMP, and OTT/CTV compatibility.

Sourcepoint Reviews:

Receiving 4 out of 5 stars on Cuspera, Sourcepoint's platform has been most highly praised for its visibility and enhanced customer experience.

Learn More About Sourcepoint

Frequently Asked Questions

What are my options for consent management?

You realistically have three options when it comes to consent management on your website or app:

  1. Build your own CMP from scratch.
  2. Pay for a third-party CMP platform.
  3. Get a managed CMP for free as part of a comprehensive revenue management solution.

Each option comes with some important considerations, pros and cons that vary from publisher to publisher.

 

What is most important to consider when choosing or building the best CMP?

  • Compliance: If your chosen solution for consent management doesn’t keep you compliant with applicable privacy laws, it’s not a good solution. It’s no better than no solution at all if you find yourself in legal trouble because of it. The best CMPs will have teams dedicated to compliance monitoring, constantly staying on top of changing compliance laws.
  • Data Capturing: The more data you can convince your users to let you gather, the more money you stand to make. That’s because you can use that data to offer targeted campaigns to advertisers — a guarantee that they will reach who they really want to reach. That means you can charge more and your CPMs will be higher. And, don’t get us wrong, the benefits aren’t just to one group. Publishers, audiences, and advertisers alike all benefit from consented data.
  • Development and Integration: When you put building your own CMP up against the two ready-made options, there’s no comparison: The DIY approach involves a lot more development and integration work. As for most third-party CMPs, they will typically require you to use their dashboard or interface to oversee consent management on your web properties, which is fine for some publishers, but not all. The Playwire route is even easier: We just ask you to place a snippet of code on your site, and we take care of everything else.
  • Leveraging Data: What will you do with the data you capture? The idea is to use it to drive your CPMs higher. If you build your own CMP, will you know how to do that? Some third-party solutions have data management baked in, but that isn’t always standard, and it often requires you to operate within their ad tech ecosystem.
  • CMP Cost: Third-party CMPs cost money. How much depends on the platform you go with, but you can easily spend thousands per month on these solutions. Then, you have the DIY approach, which is far and away the most expensive. Building your own CMP requires developers, and developers are paid handsomely. Playwire’s solution is free. As part of our holistic revenue management approach, we take a small cut of the revenue we bring in for you, but we never charge you for consent management.

You Create the Content, We’ll Cover the Details

Online privacy is a big deal, and it's only growing more important for publishers to pay attention to as time goes on. In addition to consent management simply being the right thing to do, it's also the law. Meanwhile, tech giants like Google and Apple are modifying their approaches to privacy and consent, and it's up to publishers to keep up if they want to thrive.

That's a lot of details to manage when what you really need to be doing is creating the content your audience loves you for. Don't grin and bear it - let Playwire handle consent management and privacy for you.

We've chosen to integrate all the leading technologies into our RAMP® Platform so publishers automatically have access to all of them. We'll take care of consent and dozens of other revenue management concerns to help grow your revenue while you focus on doing what you do best: creating engaging high-quality content.

Interested in learning more? Get in touch with our expert team by contacting Playwire today.

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More on the Ad Tech Ecosystem

Are you interested in reviewing all your ad tech options but unsure where to begin given the complexity of the industry? Don't fret, Playwire has your back!

Learn more about all the players and tools that are available across the ad tech landscape with our new Ad Tech Ecosystem webpage, which is updated regularly, and includes information on ad networks, native ad solutions, consent management partners, data management platforms, and everything in between!