What are Domain Groups and how should I use them?

1. What is a Domain Group?

A Domain Group is – as the name indicates – a collection of domains in the Manager that share the same configuration. Domains that are added to the same domain group ‘behave’ in the same way.

Each domain group has a unique CBID and the domains listed under them domains share the same CBID, use the same cookie consent banner template, the same logo, the same styling of the banner, etc.

Additionally, ‘Cross-domain Consent Sharing’ can be enabled for all domains listed under the same domain group. This feature allows you to collect consent for all domains within the same Domain Group on any of the domains. This ensures that visitors aren't asked for consent when moving from one of the domains to another.

If you want to set up everything first (wholesale model) and then invite the customer to take ownership of the Domain Group (so it becomes retail model) then you can also create a Domain Group and do this. If you would like to sign up customers under the retail model, there is no need for you to create a domain group - invite the customer and then get access to his domain group(s).

See also: Do I have to set up domain groups on my reseller account if I want my customers to be on the ‘retail model’? and Reseller introduction: How do I onboard customers under the 'retail' and the 'wholesale' model? for details about how to sign up customers under the two reseller models.

2. How do I create a new Domain Group?

Log in to your Reseller account via the Cookiebot manager. Click on the button on the upper right-hand side to create a new domain group:

Choose a name for the Domain Group (for example the company name of your customer).

Then, choose if the domain(s) in the domain group should be

1. Free 14-day trial (see What types of subscriptions can I create for my customers? in the article here:Introduction-How-do-I-onboard-customers-under-the-retail-and-the-wholesale-model-)
2. Premium subscription
3. Free subscription (please note that restrictions/conditions apply – see Is-the-Free-subscription-GDPR-compliant-If-yes-what-is-the-difference-between-the-free-subscription-and-the-premium-subscription-).

Finally, choose if the domain group should have the standard configuration – or if you want to copy the configuration from an existing domain group. This could be useful if you want to make use e.g. of the same banner template, position and layout as you have for one of your existing Domain Groups. Then, click "OK" to create the domain group.

3. Can domains in the same Domain Group have different types of subscriptions?

Free:

A free subscription can only have a single domain. Free subscriptions are intended for smaller customers with a small website and no need for many of the features that the Premium subscriptions offer. Therefore, if you create a domain group and choose ‘free plan’ you can only add 1 domain to the domain group.

Example: If one of your customers has 2 domains, one with fewer than 50 pages (that qualifies for the free subscription) and one with more than 50 pages, then you should create a domain group with ‘premium plan’ and both of these domains will be charged for a premium subscription based on each of their number of subpages.

Free 14-day trial:

It is not possible to combine ‘Premium plan’ and ‘14 days trial’ on the same domain group. If you would like to offer your customer to try Cookiebot for free for 14 days, create a domain group and add a domain. When the trial expires (or before), if the customer is happy with Cookiebot and with your services, you can easily convert the trial domain group to a premium subscription and you will not have to create a new domain group (see What should I do when a free 14-day trial expires? How do I convert a free 14 days trial to a premium subscription? in the article here: Introduction-How-do-I-onboard-customers-under-the-retail-and-the-wholesale-model-).

Premium:

Please note that domain groups under ‘Premium plan’ can contain different premium subscriptions. Because the subscription price is automatically determined by the number of subpages on each domain or subdomain, it is possible to have a mix of Premium Small, Premium Medium and Premium Large subscriptions in one domain group.

4. How can I change the name of a domain group?

You can edit the name of an existing domain group by clicking the button on the upper right-hand side.

Edit the name and click ok to save your changes.

5. How can I delete a domain group?

To delete a domain group, click the button on the upper right-hand side.

Please note that you will lose all data (including logged consents, consent statistics and scan reports), styling and configuration. None of this can be retrieved if you regret deleting the domain group.

6. Will I be charged for Domain Groups?

The number of Domain Groups you have on your Reseller account doesn't affect pricing. Subscriptions are charged per domain or per subdomain and set by the number of pages on each domain. 

7. Can you disable the ‘Free subscription’ so my customers (retail model) can only sign up for paid subscriptions?

Many of our Resellers make use of free subscriptions. Some do so to offer an extra (free) service to their existing and/or new customers – without a financial gain. Others (under the wholesale model) do so because they include it in a package solution (perhaps including a support hotline or implementation for the customer) and charge a joint package price.

We cannot disable the free subscription option but you can encourage your customers to get the Premium plan by highlighting the extra options and features that they will get from a Premium subscription (see: Is-the-Free-subscription-GDPR-compliant-If-yes-what-is-the-difference-between-the-free-subscription-and-the-premium-subscription- for details).

8. Example case: My customer has 2 different domains – one German and one English. Should they be put in the same domain group or in separate domain groups?

Domains added to the same Domain Group ‘behave’ in the same way and also share the same scripts. They will share the same CBID (‘Cookiebot Identifier, which is the serial number that is included in the script. Each domain group has a unique CBID), use the same cookie consent banner template, the same logo, the same styling of the banner etc.

Also, it is possible to use ‘Cross-domain Consent Sharing’ for all the domains and subdomains within one domain group to ensure that a website visitor is asked for a joint consent covering all the domains/subdomains only the first time he visits one of those domains. For more information about domain groups, see point 1 in our guide on how to work with domain groups for your different customers. 

So you have two options:

1. You can add both the two domains to the same domain group. That way they will share the same script and behave in the same way. Under the tab ‘content’ you can choose to add the banner in 2 languages – German and English. That way, German users (based on IP address) would see the banner text in German and everyone else would see it in English.
2. 2. You can add the German domain to one domain group and the English domain to another domain group. This has no impact on the pricing since you pay per domain and per subdomain - and not related to the number of domain groups. Then, each domain will be able to behave in a different way – for example have its own logo on the cookie consent banner, have different wording in the banner, use 2 different types of cookie consent banner template or have different colors etc.