Which cookie banner should you choose?

We all know them, we always accept them when we want to access a website, but what is the point of having a cookie banner? But cookie banners come in different shapes – there are different types of cookiebanners, that differentiate in functionality despite their similarities. We spoke to one of our frontend developers, Anders Krogh Rasmussen, who have implemented several cookie banners on both municipal and commerce software solutions. Anders especially emphasizes two suppliers– Cookie Information and Cookie Bot. In this blogpost, we will give you a short overlook of the pros and cons of the two, what you need to be especially aware of as a municipal website and why you should avoid free banners.  

And how does a cookie banner work? A cookie banner is a pop-up you meet, whenever you click your way onto a website. Its purpose is to inform the visitors about the use of cookies on the site, and preferably in a clear and simple language so that the visitor will have no doubts about, what their information is used for. The information, that the website is using cookies is not enough… No, it is essential, that the user has the opportunity to choose themselves if they will give their consent, or not, to the use of personal data. 

There is a very simple answer to that question. If you have cookies on your website, it is mandatory by law to also have a cookie banner. To elaborate, if you have implemented cookies on your website, that makes it possible for you to collect digital information about the user, when they search and look at your website and generally online, you also need a cookie banner. But not all cookie banners are compliant with the regulatory requirements on GDPR. This is, according to Anders, often the problem with free banners.

So, let’s take a look at each of the two solutions, and dive into their pros and cons. 

Cookie Information is developed in Denmark and is, according to Anders, also the one, that most often is used for municipal and public web solutions. This is partly because the securing of compliance with GDPR, that has been required by law since 2018 according to the personal data regulation in the EU. Moreover, Anders highlights a clear advantage of Cookie Information: “They have a manageable interface, which is very intuitive and user-friendly, which makes it easier for the user to navigate.”  

In contrast to this, Anders tells us, that the Cookie Bot interface can be experienced a bit more complex by the user, because it is a larger tool with more integrations. 

At the same time, Cookie Bot is also a larger and internationally recognized firm, which is used by BBC and Bloomberg amongst others. The advantage of that can be seen in the integrations, that runs with Google Analytics and other tools, which makes it possible to keep third parts out of the picture. And Anders sees Cookie Bot as the preferred choice, if you are working with e-commerce, because of the integration up against Google Analytics. Thus, Cookie Bot has many functions, which can be seen as both pros and cons, if you ask Anders. “Though it offers a wide assortment of integrations, it can be a challenge for the administrator to figure out.” 

So, when we ask Anders what he, as a specialist, considers to be the preferred cookie banner, his answer is not that simple. “It mostly comes down to the website in question, and the purpose of it. If you are working on a municipal site, Cookie Information has some integrations, which makes it the preferred one, and at the same time it is compliant with GDPR. If you are working with e-commerce on the other hand, it can be worth your while to have a look at Cookie Bot, because it has several advantages, if you are using online advertisement.”