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Osano: A Super Simple Guide for New Users

Updated 4 months ago

Let's start simple: What is Osano Cookie Consent (CMP)?

Osano's Cookie Consent solution or CMP is a tool that helps your website follow privacy laws. These are the rules that say you have to ask visitors if it's OK to track them — like using cookies, pixels, or other tools that watch what people do on your site.

Osano shows a message (called a consent banner) when someone visits your site. Based on their choices, it blocks or allows different tools — like Google Analytics or Facebook — so you stay on the right side of the law.

It works automatically for visitors from different countries and laws and it does it all automatically for you so you don't have to worry about being a regulatory or legal expert. But, for Osano to do its job well, you need to help it understand what each thing on your site does.

What do I need to do in Osano?

Imagine your website is full of little machines. Some are:

  • Watching what people do (Analytics)

  • Showing ads (Marketing)

  • Running the checkout or login (Essential)

Osano needs to know what each of these machines does so it can block or allow them correctly. That’s called classifying them.

If you don’t tell Osano what something is, it won’t know whether to block it when a visitor says “No you can't track me."

Tell me more about "Classification"

To classify something just means putting it in the right bucket.

For example:

  • Google Analytics → goes in the Analytics bucket

  • Facebook ads → go in the Marketing bucket

  • Login script → goes in the Essential bucket

By completing and maintaining your classifications, you’re telling Osano: “This thing does*this job*, so treat it this way.”

Inside the Osano dashboard, go to the Cookie Consent >> Configurations area. In each entry, you’ll see 3 sections called:

  • Scripts (pieces of code)

  • Cookies (little trackers)

  • Iframes (boxes showing things from other sites)

In each, there is a discoveries section. You’ll go in to that section and look at what Osano found, then choose the right label (Analytics, Marketing, Essential, etc.) for each one.

Good news: Osano will try to guess for you based on what it knows from other websites. You just have to check and confirm.

If you are setting up Osano from scratch you may have many scripts/cookies/Iframes to classify. If you are inheriting the tool and maintaining it going forward, you may see just a few. The same rules apply.

What If I See the Same Thing Over and Over?

If you have lots of similar scripts (like all from www.example.com), you can use a rule to tell Osano:

“Everything from here does the same thing — treat them all the same.”

This is called a bulk classification rule. It saves you time.

Example:

You find:

https://www.osano.com/script1  
https://www.osano.com/script2  
https://www.osano.com/script3

You can create one rule for:

https://www.osano.com/

Then pick the right label once — and Osano will automatically apply it to everything that starts the same way.

Easy.

Advanced Settings (If You Need Them)

There’s a section in Osano called Advanced Settings. You can usually ignore it at first, but later you might need it if:

Everything is labeled clearly, and there’s help documentation for each option if you need it.

Can I Make It Match My Brand?

Yes! Osano lets you:

You can do this in the Text Customization and Styling sections in the dashboard. If you have more robust customization needs, don't worry! You can use CSS to get really brand specific if that is your preference.

What If I Manage More Than One Website?

If you need to use Osano for multiple sites:

It’s up to you!

Taking Over From Someone Else?

If you just got access to Osano because someone else left or changed roles:

  1. Contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) to let them know.

  2. Have them update the account owner and billing contact info so you get emails and can make changes.

That way, you don’t miss anything important.

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