[the_gipsy]

> The cookie used for frequency capping is considered to be a "technical cookie" and has no bearing on privacy, best I can tell.

But the comment you're responding to says it right there: Even google is telling you it requires consent. It's a cookie, so it requires consent, period. Don't fool yourself.

Could google serve ads without cookies, and do fraud detection by other means? Yes, perhaps lowering payout due to increased risk. But it much better to pretend that a cookie-banner is needed, so that you might as well enable ad-tracking cookies.