Why Your Facebook Pixel and Ad Tracking Might Be Broken with Complianz

If you've recently installed the Complianz – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent plugin and noticed a sudden, significant drop in your Facebook ad conversion tracking or Google Ad revenue, you're not alone. This is a common point of confusion for website owners trying to balance legal compliance with marketing performance. This guide explains why it happens and how to correctly configure your setup.

The Core Issue: Consent-Based Blocking

The primary function of the Complianz plugin is to help your website comply with privacy laws like the GDPR and CCPA. A key part of this is blocking third-party tracking scripts, such as the Facebook Pixel or Google Ads tags, until a user has given their explicit consent for marketing or statistics cookies.

When a user clicks a Facebook ad and lands on your site, if they do not immediately accept cookies, the Pixel script is not loaded. This means the crucial "PageView" and subsequent conversion events (like "Purchase" or "Lead") are not sent back to Facebook. Consequently, Facebook's algorithm interprets this as a low-converting ad, which can negatively impact your campaign performance and ad spend efficiency. The same principle applies to Google Adsense, where revenue can drop because personalized ads are blocked prior to consent.

It is important to understand that this blocking is not a bug; it is the intended, compliant behavior of the plugin.

Common Troubleshooting Steps

1. Review Your Complianz Wizard Configuration

The first place to check is your plugin configuration. Navigate to Complianz > Wizard and go to the Consent > Services section. Ensure you have accurately declared your use of services like Facebook and Google Ads. If these services are listed, Complianz will know to block their scripts until consent is given.

2. Check Integrations with Third-Party Tools

Many users employ tools like PixelYourSite, MonsterInsights, or server-side Google Tag Manager (GTM) to manage their tracking. Complianz often has automatic integrations for these plugins.

• Navigate to Complianz > Integrations to see if your marketing/analytics plugins are detected.
• For tools like PixelYourSite, ensure it is set to be controlled by consent. In some cases, as mentioned in support threads, adding a specific script to the Script Center might be necessary to ensure proper firing after consent.
• If you are using server-side tracking (like the Facebook Conversions API), remember that Complianz deals with client-side browser scripts. Server-side API calls are a separate data stream and must be configured within your server-side GTM or other implementation.

3. Disable Specific Integrations (A Temporary Test)

To quickly diagnose if Complianz is the cause, you can try disabling its integration for a specific service. For example, in the Integrations menu, you could temporarily turn off the toggle for Facebook. Warning: This is not a recommended long-term solution as it may put you in violation of privacy policies. It should only be used for testing purposes. If tracking resumes after disabling the integration, it confirms the blocking was the issue.

4. Clear All Caching

After making any configuration changes in Complianz or your other plugins, it is critical to clear any and all caching on your site. This includes your WordPress caching plugin, server-level cache, and CDN cache (like Cloudflare). Often, changes will not be visible until the cache is purged.

Important Considerations: Compliance vs. Tracking

Before seeking a workaround that forces tracking, consider the legal implications. Platforms like Google have strict policies, and throttling ads for non-compliant sites is becoming more common. The goal is to achieve a balance—obtaining proper consent while minimizing the impact on your analytics.

If you have uninstalled Complianz and tracking issues persist, the problem is almost certainly elsewhere. As confirmed in support threads, uninstalling the plugin completely removes its scripts and should not leave any residual code that affects tracking. In such cases, investigate other causes like caching, changes in your tracking code, or issues with the tracking platform itself.

For further reading on specific configurations, the 'Complianz – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent' team has published articles on their website regarding Facebook Pixel settings and Google's consent requirements.