If you operate a WordPress website that is served up to EU visitors you must comply with the cookie consent laws by adding a popup notification bar. Try the UK Cookie Consent plugin for your site – it is free.
While these laws are ridiculous and certainly frustrating for webmasters, I’d rather not fall foul of the federal power of the European Union. It’s not the EU that worry me anyway.
It’s rare to find a site that doesn’t use cookies these days because most services, including Google Adsense, Google Analytics and other services including but not limited to social media widgets track visitors anonymously for statistical purposes.
Apparently, the European Commission think this is a problem but really are only coercing those who run websites to add “friction” to the user experience with unnecessary popups that tell the website visitors what they already know.
I wrote about cookies, privacy and permission over a year ago when it was in the early stages of implementation. I began informing my web design clients and added the popups to their sites.
If you’re an Adsense user you’re advised to take the requirements seriously, because Google have updated their terms of service by asking Adsense publishers to include cookie consent popups.
This worries me.
At one point Google and the EU couldn’t agree with one another, but, it seems if Google want to jump on the European trampoline, they need to take off their socks and shoes first.
Thems the rules. If you want to keep your Adsense earnings it is perhaps a good idea to comply with Google, who unfortunately have the EU breathing down their neck.
Plugin Installation
I threw together a quick demo of the plugin included how you can customise the colours. I used the browser element inspector to grab some of the exact CSS hex color codes from other parts of my site.
What I don’t like is the fact that as soon as you install the plugin, it automatically adds a cookie consent disclaimer page to your WordPress site.
That’s right – it actually publishes a page without your say so and is linked to from the button on the popup notification bar.
I already have a privacy policy here on my website so I deleted the page about cookies the plugin had added and linked to the existing privacy policy which covered cookies in more detail.
