Glossary/Privacy and identity/Consent management platform (CMP)
What is a CMP (consent management platform)?
What a consent management platform does, how it works with the IAB TCF, and how publishers raise consent without dark patterns.
Written by Samhub with the help of AI·Updated 13 Oct 2026·3 min readA consent management platform (CMP) is the tool that shows the consent banner, records each reader’s choices and passes them on to analytics and advertising vendors.
What a CMP does
Shows the banner
Explains purposes and vendors in clear language.
Records choices
Stores what each reader agreed to.
Passes consent on
As a TC string in ad requests and as signals to tags.
Lets readers change their mind
A link to update choices at any time.
CMPs and the IAB TCF
For programmatic advertising in Europe, the CMP should be registered with IAB Europe and support the Transparency and Consent Framework, so every vendor reads consent the same way.
16 pages for publishers, with a checklist for data, programmatic and direct sales.
Raise consent the right way
Explain why data matters for independent journalism, keep the banner simple and offer a real choice. Regulators look closely at banners that make saying no harder than saying yes.
Addressability at Stampen Media after moving its reader data into one layer with Samhub.
Frequently asked questions
If you use cookies or data for advertising or analytics in the EU, you need a way to collect and record consent, which is what a CMP does.
It varies by market and banner design. Track it monthly and test changes.
Not for personalized advertising under TCF 2.2, and not for storing data on the device under ePrivacy rules.
The encoded record of a reader’s choices that the CMP passes to vendors.
Related terms
The industry standard for passing consent to ad tech vendors.
Any information that relates to an identifiable person.
The share of your audience you can recognize and target.
Cookies set by another domain than the site you visit.
The share of readers who accept data use.
One EU-based platform to collect, unify and enrich your first-party data, installed with one script.
- A walkthrough with your own data
- Built for publishers and media houses
- 30 minutes, no commitment
Turn your audience data into more revenue
Get the Media Monetization Playbook: how media houses turn first-party data into higher CPMs, data deals and direct sales. With checklists for every step.
