Website compliance without blind marketing

Website privacy compliance can distort digital marketing measurement due to, correctly, configured consent platforms preventing non-essential analytics from tracking visitors unless they give permission.

You get a website compliant – objective #1 – but there is a consequence. It’s harder to assess and make sense of your analytics data – objective #2 – which might take a big dent.

When visitors decline consent, their visits can go unrecorded in conventional analytics reports. The website hasn’t lost traffic. The marketing team only lost visibility of it.

How often do you decline cookies and tracking when you visit a website? Yeap, that’s you – you don’t get recorded, that’s your choice. But it leaves less for a Marketing manager to use.

They are responsible for acquisition, campaign performance, budgets and reporting, etc, this creates a problem: decisions possible only with the data available.

But, what Privacy Compliance might take away we can now giveth back with rebuilt analytics data, to address this problem.

The approach is grounded in observed consent decisions, rather than relying exclusively on predictions derived from the visitors analytics can already see. All above board.

It’s like Google traffic re-modelling without the minimum traffic threshold – ie. ours works. (And don’t similar to the ability of Google Search Console data to be unaffected by privacy.)

The process follows four stages: Clean, Model, Validate and Rebuild.

First, the data is cleaned to exclude automated traffic, testing environments, irrelevant consent records and out-of-scope markets; second, consent behaviour is analysed to calculate how much traffic may be missing, taking account of individual websites, countries, devices and consent experiences; third, the evidence is validated, with tracking coverage, consent configuration, data quality and sample sizes assessed before determining the reliability and detail of the projections; finally, we reconstruct aggregate traffic metrics, using the most appropriate available evidence from the analytics and consent platforms.

The marketing team gets data it can use, like before. And your website stays compliant.

The cliché ‘win-win’ is apt: rebuilt estimates of sessions, users and pageviews, with breakdowns by acquisition channel, country and device where the supporting data is sufficient, delivered through dashboards and APIs, allowing marketers to compare observed and rebuilt traffic and follow performance over time. And you’re compliant!

The objective is not to recreate individual events, identify visitors or reconstruct their journeys, but is to restore a more complete, decision-useful picture of website traffic.

And importantly, the system reports limitations and confidence warnings where the available evidence does not justify a more detailed result.

As organisations improve consent enforcement, the gap between actual website activity and recorded analytics WILL become more significant, and this affects acquisition reporting, SEO performance analysis, paid media evaluation, market comparisons and the interpretation of traffic trends.

A reduction in reported visits can reflect a change in consent enforcement rather than a change in customer demand. Without this knowledge, marketing decisions risk being based on misleading comparisons. 

Remember when your traffic dropped when you implement cookie banners? (well, if the consent worked correctly. That’s what we can address.

Designed for marketing managers, digital analytics teams and organisations operating consent-compliant websites, particularly those managing multiple brands, markets or platforms. We support GA4, Adobe Analytics and Matomo, with consent data from platforms such as OneTrust and TrustArc, subject to integration and data availability.

Unlike approaches tied to a single analytics platform (you know the one) this is designed to work across different technology environments and provide visibility into its modelling inputs, factors and exclusions. Our solution has no significant minimum traffic per month. (Spoiler: Google remodelling needs 10k visits per month.)

More complete reporting, better-informed marketing decisions and greater confidence in the figures being used, while preserving the consent choices made by visitors. Available now.

Privacy compliance and effective marketing measurement should not have to work against one another.

Keep consent, and Rebuild visibility.

Cressive Analytics Rebuild (CAR) is part of Cressive’s Digital Performance and Digital Privacy.

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And for good reason. Under California’s new CCPA regulations, businesses undertaking certain higher-risk processing must conduct and document formal privacy risk assessments. These regulations took effect on 1 January 2026. For relevant processing already underway before then and continuing afterwards, the catch-up deadline is 31 December 2027.

Why is activity picking up now ahead of Q4? Because privacy cannot sensibly be reconstructed retrospectively, and so now, 2026 is in operational scope.

The regulations require businesses to assess relevant new processing before it begins. They also require businesses to look backwards. Relevant legacy processing continuing after 1 January 2026 must be assessed by the end of 2027. The gun has fired.

And by 1 April 2028, businesses must submit information to the California Privacy Protection Agency covering required risk assessments conducted during 2026 and 2027. Meaning this can’t be a 2027 action, but an operational privacy demand now.

From privacy process to privacy proof

Evidence is paramount too. Having a privacy policy is not the same as knowing – assuming?! – what your website actually does. Having a consent-management platform is not the same as knowing whether tracking technologies obey it. And – as we find everyday in our work for clients – providing an opt-out is not the same as knowing whether the customer’s choice is actually respected.

Global Privacy Control (GPC) is ‘Go’

GPC allows a Californian to communicate automatically that they want to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal information. (The end of those boring cookie banners? Probably not but that’s for another post…) Businesses subject to the requirement must recognise qualifying opt-out preference signals.

Great in principle. Operationally much more tricky. So, the usual conversation we hear:

“Does our website actually do it?” That is the pertinent question.

Evidence required by CCPA, within your governance

California’s direction of travel has something in common with the evolution of privacy governance under GDPR and the UK’s data-protection and ePrivacy regimes, in that ePrivacy is becoming operational.

Risk assessments must be documented, and decisions have to be supported. Material changes can trigger reassessment. Relevant assessments must be reviewed periodically. With executive management ultimately has responsibility for the information submitted to the regulator. And thus privacy therefore has moved beyond Legal…

The General Counsel needs to know what should happen;
The CTO needs to know what the technology is doing;
The CMO needs to know what marketing technology is collecting and sharing;

Any inspection needs reliable evidence connecting all three.

You can’t govern what you can’t see

Cupping sand with your hands, websites can change every day. A new marketing tag appears, the agency adds a pixel, third parties modify technology. Now, a customer arrives with GPC enabled.

And whilst privacy policy may remain exactly the same, the actual privacy behaviour of the website may not. Making the periodic independent technical assessment valuable even where it is not itself a specific statutory requirement.

If the marginal cost of checking is relatively small, it can be less than the cost of discovering much later that customer interactions behaved differently from what the organisation believed.

California’s regulators are already looking at this operational layer. The CPPA has conducted enforcement activity specifically concerning businesses’ treatment of GPC signals.

Dates for your calendar:

1 January 2026 — the new CCPA regulations became effective. Risk-assessment obligations for new in-scope processing begin.

1 January 2027 — ADMT requirements apply to businesses using automated decision-making technology for significant decisions.

31 December 2027 — deadline to complete risk assessments for qualifying legacy processing begun before 1 January 2026 and continuing afterwards. NB. harder to run ’26 data in ’27.

1 April 2028 — deadline to submit the required risk-assessment information for assessments conducted during 2026 and 2027.

On-going: Risk assessments must subsequently be reviewed at least every three years and updated sooner following material change. Privacy compliance is becoming a continuing management discipline rather than an occasional compliance exercise.

See Clearly

At Cressive, we help you know what your websites are actually doing.

We independently observe and audit the technologies operating across digital estates: consent, tracking, third parties, GPC and other privacy behaviours. Evidence identifies where further investigation is required and, importantly, where it is not.

Good privacy governance shouldn’t begin with an investigation every time somebody asks a question. It should begin with an answer. We can provide this. Fast.

See clearly. Know what’s happening. Then decide what to do about it.

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The event, “Getting SEO Measurement Right in 2024” provided an opportunity for attendees from the digital marketing discipline to understand more about the latest issues and trends, as well as hear updates and top tips on how to address these; important for maintaining a competitive edge in digital marketing.

The focus was on SEO hot topics for 2024 ‘so far’, including Cookie Consent, Bot Traffic, Google Results, the shift to GA4, and the AI impact on SEO – and conveniently, Google formally announced the release of their AI Overview the evening before. Thank you Google!

Cookie Consent Impacts and Problems

With increasing regulations around data privacy, the topic of Cookie Consent was the first major highlight to resonate with attendees – a dry and not normally exciting topic brought alive by the shared recognition. When it comes to this topic, businesses often ask, “Do I have to?” and the short answer is YES. According to gov.uk following the EU directive, “You must get the user’s consent before you set any cookies that are not strictly necessary.” The impact is usually a significant drop in recorded traffic numbers, affecting data analysis in perpetuity. Effective cookie consent management is essential to have a reliable baseline for digital marketing let alone maintaining user trust.

Bot Traffic Ruining Tracked Data in Google

Bot Traffic is spam traffic leading to short term spikes, with clear footprints such as time on site time (low), traffic from, er ‘unusual’ countries (Poland, Russia, etc). It is clearly automated, clearly not real or genuine to website tracking of user experience. It is an inconvenient mess, making month on month (MoM) and year on year (YoY) comparisons difficult, often invalid. Techniques were shared to block in GA (Google Analytics), but alas the effectiveness in tackling this issue can be low without reasonable attention. Cressive shared hints and tips to deal with bot traffic, but one inevitable consequence is greater reliance upon GSC (Google Search Console) as a reliable source of data – no bad this arguably for SEOs. It is less affected compared to GA, however not immune. 

Google Results and Congested SERPs

The landscape, format and content of Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) continues to change, and it is becoming increasingly cluttered considering both paid and free results such as products, FAQs, mobile scrolling, news etc – a collage of fragmented snippets. This creates both challenges and opportunities. To make the best use of Google Results latest updates for digital marketing promotion, maps, business listings, videos and Wikipedia, and all the wide variants and options require consideration. Wikipedia is often overlooked, but it is one of the best ranking websites for many searches. Additionally, you can target Featured Snippets. Google says, “Featured Snippets are special boxes where the format of a regular search results is reversed, showing the descriptive snippet first.” The increasing complexity of SERPs demands management and this can be automated using Cressive DX’s reporting, to record and highlight visibility in responding to and managing all search results.

The Forced Shift to GA4 and End of UA (now aka “GA3”)

One of the most significant events of the year is the transition from UA (Universal Analytics) to GA4 (Google Analytics). This shift changes the way data is collected and interpreted. Much has been, and is being, written on this subject so the focus on the briefing was on the more surprising impact and options. Many businesses didn’t have trouble with this transition, many others faced challenges, and few switched to alternative analytics tools such as Matomo or Adobe Analytics because of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) – a European Union regulation on information privacy. The limitations and enforced changes to digital marketing analytics interpretation caused by this shift to GA4 are found in every SEO engagement currently and will be ongoing impact. The demise of UA/GA3 at the end of June necessitates a change in focus and management.

Read our article “GA4 and UA – What’s the Difference?” highlighting the shift to GA4 in more detail. 

AI, AI Overview and the Impact on SEO

Perhaps the fastest trending topic of the year is AI & SEO and its impact. It is changing often and rapidly, that by the time you finish reading this article, there can be a new AI update or release… The evening before the briefing meeting saw Google announce the new AI Overview ‘search result snippet’.

Google rolled out AI-Powered Overviews (SGE – Search Generative Experience) to US search results, powered by the new Gemini model. We can be certain of some immediate responses to interpreting SERPs and result snippets – by both users and for SEO, and Cressive shared actions that can be employed today to deal with and better manage SEO in response. We proactively research and incorporate AI into both the consulting SEO services and SEO software so we harness the latest innovations as well as react to the constant changes. The next wave of SEO has begun and Cressive remains determined to stay at the forefront of changes in digital marketing, and share these to the benefit of our clients.

At Cressive DX, with more than 3 decades of combined experience we guide businesses through these difficult transitions and challenges. We use our proprietary software and proven industry expertise, to turn your data into insights and insights into high value solutions. Best-practice brand control leads to better Digital Brand Performance. 

This was the first Breakfast Briefing organised by Cressive DX offering comprehensive information on 2024 SEO hot topics to attendees, but it won’t be the last. See you in the next event in Q3.

Originally published 25 June 2024 on LinkedIn.

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You’re ready to gain the skills and experience needed to advance your career – and we have a rare software engineering opportunity for you.

As a Python Software Engineer, your product responsibility goes hand in hand with backend development and front end skills in our Guildford-based team. We are partners to high profile brands, building world-class digital marketing and reporting solutions, through proprietary software.

A market leading app needs the latest technologies and the best people. As a key part of our Technical Team you’ll be responsible for product modules and the platform, learn from the best minds in the industry, in an ambitious yet relaxed (“non-City”) environment.

Role/Responsibilities

• Expand and support the company products using software development skills
• Responsible for back-end development with a mix of front-end
• Write, test and debug features as well as integrate to third party web services
• Coordinate user requirements and translate them into technical solutions
• Learn best practice design, documentation, implementation, security, and optimisation
• Support marketing leading SEO reporting products;

Skills/Experience

• Proficient in writing effective and scalable code using Python3 and the Django framework
• Experience with relational DBMS / PostgreSQL
• Experience in technologies such as RabbitMQ, Celery, and AWS
• Experience with front-end technologies (Javascript, CSS and HTML)
• Good understanding of event driven architectures
• Understand event driven architectures and API integration services inc. Google, Facebook, Salesforce
• Strong communication skills in written English, organisational and time management, and a sense of humour.

You/Us

You have energy and passion, 3 to 5 years of experience, and desire to be a key part of our team, that will nurture learning and growth and provide strong opportunities to progress. Likely from a Computer Science, Engineering or relevant background.

We take our work seriously but not ourselves. We work for global brands, but have fun working in a close team. We care about and give back to our local community and charities.

We partner with high profile brands and build their world-class digital marketing and reporting solutions. An expert yet relaxed environment, we’re proud of our small company culture with big company ambition.

Package: Competitive salary + bonus + pension + 25 days holiday + Surrey lifestyle

Location: Surrey Technology Centre, Guildford, Surrey GU2, hybrid but more office than home (please note, NB so will suit someone local).

Please no agencies, thanks.

Apply now to: jobs@cressive.com, Ref: SE2304

Please email a CV highlighting, with examples, your match to the role and skills. We’ll consider applicants as they apply, so don’t delay. Cressive DX is committed to equal opportunity for all, and collect personal data as per GDPR privacy.

Related: Web Developer Surrey, Front End Developer Guildford, Web Developer jobs in Guildford, DevOps jobs in Surrey

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Role

• Lead and support best practice technical SEO implementation and reporting
• Responsible for long term digital marketing engagements with our partner brands
• Research strategic methods and analyse detailed technical data and content
• Provide technical services and collaboratively help build SEO software solutions;

You

• Hands-on knowledge of SEO on-site, on-page and off-page
• Experience of international SEO, multiple site SEO in large project engagements
• Proficient in use of Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google Tag Manager
• 2-5 years of relevant experience, with energy and passion, you’re different like us
• Ready for a new challenge, to apply your skills, learn more, and make a real difference;

Us

• We help global client brands happy (inc. Nestle and NatGeo)
• We automate SEO and make world-class digital marketing reporting solutions
• We work from home primarily but meet regularly in our open office environment
• We care, we work sustainably, and we support local charities.

Please email a CV with examples of your work. We are interviewing now. Look for tech easter eggs on https://cressive.com.

We are committed to equal opportunity for all, and collect personal data as per GDPR privacy.

Package: Competitive salary + bonus + benefits + share options + 25 days holiday + a Surrey lifestyle

Location: Home working + Surrey Technology Centre, Surrey Research Park, GU2

Apply to: jobs@cressive.com

Ref: SEO23

Related: SEO Consultant, Google Analytics Consultant, Digital Marketing Executive, SEO jobs Guildford, SEO job Surrey.

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As part of our Tech Team you’ll be trained in the latest technologies and our products, and learn from some of the best minds in the industry, in an ambitious yet relaxed environment.

Role/Responsibilities

• Expand as well as support the company product using software development skills
• Writing, testing and debugging features as well as integrating to third party web services
• Responsible for and support both front-end and back-end development on a global scale
• Coordinate with internal teams to understand user requirements and translate them into technical solutions
• Learn best practice design, documentation, implementation, security, and optimisation
• Support marketing leading SEO and SEO reporting products;

Skills/Experience

• Proficient in writing effective and scalable code using Python3 and the Django framework
• Experience in databases and SQL, as well as back-end technologies inc. RabbitMQ, Celery, AWS
• Experience with front-end technologies (Javascript, CSS and HTML)
• Good understanding of event driven architectures
• An understanding of API integration services inc. Google, Amazon, Facebook, Salesforce
• Strong communication skills in written English, organisational and time management, and a sense of humour.

You/Us

You have energy and passion, 1 to 5 years of experience, an outstanding individual, you will be a key part of our team that will nurture your learning and growth, providing strong opportunities to progress.

We partner with high profile brands and build their world-class digital marketing and reporting solutions, through proprietary software. We provide extensive training in fast changing digital marketing.

From a Computer Science, Engineering or relevant background, you will fulfil your potential as together we pioneer digital marketing performance reporting.

An expert yet relaxed environment, we’re proud of our small company culture with big company ambition. Yet we are kind and caring, evidenced by our sponsoring local charities.

Package: Competitive salary + Bonus + Pension + Share options + 25 days of holiday + Surrey lifestyle

Location: Surrey Technology Centre, Guildford, Surrey GU2, but primarily from Home

Apply now to: jobs@cressive.com

Ref: FSDT2303

Please email a CV highlighting, with examples, your match to the role and skills. We’ll consider applicants as they apply, so don’t delay. Cressive is committed to equal opportunity for all, and collect personal data as per GDPR privacy.

Related: Web Developer Surrey, Front End Developer Guildford, Web Developer jobs in Guildford, Web Developer jobs in Surrey

No agencies please, thanks.

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Role

• Support best practice digital marketing, SEO and social media reporting
• Support long term digital marketing engagements with our partner brands
• Research strategic methods and analyse detailed technical data and content
• Provide data analysis services and collaborate in our expert team;

You

• Have energy and a genuine passion for digital marketing (and you’re different, like us)
• A working knowledge of SEO and social media, experience with Google Analytics and online data research
• Excellent communication skills with written English, with organisation and time management skills
• Love a new challenge, will learn a lot, and make a real difference to the company, our clients, our community.

Us

• We help global client brands happy (inc. Nestle, Abbott and NatGeo)
• We automate SEO and make world-class digital marketing reporting solutions
• We work from home primarily but meet regularly in our open office environment
• We care, we work sustainably, and we support local charities.

Please email a CV with examples of your work. We offer the Placement each year, keen to arrange this as soon as possible. We are committed to equal opportunity for all, and collect personal data as per GDPR privacy.

Package: Competitive renumeration + 25 days of holiday + a Surrey lifestyle

Location: Home working + Surrey Technology Centre, Surrey Research Park, GU2

Apply to: jobs@cressive.com

Ref: SEOPLAC23

Related: SEO Placement Surrey, Digital Marketing Placement Guildford, Surrey University Marketing Placement.

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After our sponsorship of Will Bosi we are looking forward to Sport Climbing in Tokyo.

Cressive prides itself in helping others, supporting local business, and sponsoring those who work hard to achieve their dreams.

Keep dreaming, keep working.

Everyone at Cressive

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Thanks to all the sponsors and organisers operating in 2020 conditions. For more information see https://surrey-research-park.com/news-events/innovation-awards-2020/.

See Cressive on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/1108070/admin/.

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