In September, Google announced that it would be retiring the GA4 configuration tag. Users would now be able to deploy a Google tag within Tag Manager instead. Now that it’s been a few weeks, let’s talk about how this change has impacted Tag Manager users, and the differences you can expect to see if you haven’t used Tag Manager since the change.
The Google tag replaced the Google Analytics (GA4) Configuration tag around mid-September. It’s different from its predecessor in that it uses Tag ID instead of Measurement ID. Instead of using multiple tags for different product accounts, users have a single ID tag and connect it to multiple destinations. This won’t impact tag behavior, just its implementation. In Google’s words:
“Your Google tag (gtag.js) has a single tag ID you can add to your website to use a variety of Google products and services. Instead of managing multiple tags for different Google product accounts, you can use a single Google tag across your entire website and connect the tag ID to multiple destinations.”
(Note that GA4 Event tags will still use Measurement ID.)
In Google’s announcement, the company listed a few benefits that users could expect to see once the update rolled out. One of these benefits is “enhanced integration”. As we touched on previously, the new Google tag is able to send data to multiple Google product destinations, but that’s not all.
Configuration Settings
The Google tag allows users to reuse parameters at two levels. At the configuration settings level, users can reuse configurations across their Google tags. Google provides an example: If you publish a website in multiple languages, you can now create a configuration variable (say, with a language parameter), and apply it to all of your Google tags, rather than manually modifying every individual tag.
In order to set up a configuration settings variable, users can open Google Tag Manager and select the “Variables” menu. Then, they can create a new variable, select the Google tag configuration settings variable, and add the parameters they want to reuse.
Event Settings
Users can also reuse parameters at the event settings level. For example, if you want to track how many users are applying a discount code, rather than manually appending a discount parameter to each of your tags, you can create an Event settings variable and reuse the parameter across tags.
Similarly to setting up a configuration settings variable, users can navigate to the “Variables” menu, create a new variable, select the Google tag event settings variable, and add the parameters they want to reuse.
Manage Access
Finally, users can now manage access to tag settings separately from access to other products, allowing for more control over who has access to critical settings and/or information.
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