You can use Matomo without tracking consent, but this doesn’t apply to Google because they’re using user data for “own purposes”. You must ask for tracking consent when using GA. Every website using Google Analytics in Europe needs to display a tracking consent screen for visitors to agree or disagree to.
Tracking consent screens negatively impact your business as visitors coming to your site might be discouraged from continuing through.
A previous GA user alerted us to a significant drop in visitors because they were required to use a consent screen with GA. “We did some A/B testing and found out that like 5-10% of visitors run away when they see a big consent banner (as we are not a common brand),” they said. This could similarly affect you.
Along with a loss of business you may also get less accurate data since more users can decline tracking.
This is where Matomo Analytics can give you an advantage. Matomo’s privacy protection is so good that once configured, you can use it without needing to ask for any consent. This results in more accurate data, less annoyed customers seeing consent screens, and a better brand image.