ceaksan - E-commerce & User Behavior Analytics

What is Google Tag Assistant? How do you use it?

Unlock seamless debugging of your tags with Google Tag Assistant for instant error detection and real-time tracking validation.

Ceyhun Enki Aksan
Ceyhun Enki Aksan Entrepreneur, Maker

You have set up Google Analytics to gain detailed insights about your visitors/customers and/or potential customers.

You have also implemented Google Ads conversion tracking codes for measuring ad performance. Consider that you’ve also integrated Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, and other tools via Google Tag Manager.

tip

You can reach out for support regarding Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics here.

Everything is set. Now we can view campaign performance and user actions based on the data we collect, right? Maybe. As long as we didn’t make any errors during the setup phase… At this point, before waiting for data to be transferred to the relevant accounts, you can use the Google Tag Assistant extension to monitor and adjust your code setup in real time.

Google Tag Assistant
Google Tag Assistant

Google Tag Assistant

Tag Assistant is a Google Chrome extension that automatically validates Google tracking codes on a specific page (active/visible). The extension provides detailed information about setup and activation events affecting the page where it is enabled. The following setup types are directly reported by the extension:

  • Google Analytics (ga.js / gtag.js)
  • Google Analytics (dc.js)
  • Ads Conversion Tracking
  • Ads Remarketing (legacy)
  • Ads Remarketing (new retargeting tag)
  • Doubleclick Floodlight
  • Google Tag Manager

The extension can be downloaded from the Chrome Store page and used easily. 1

How Google Tag Assistant Works

After installation, the Chrome browser extension will appear as an icon in the URL bar under the Extensions section. The icon is initially set to Disable mode and will perform no actions until you click the Enable button on the page. Upon clicking the Enable button and refreshing the page, you will be presented with a list of detected snippets and relevant notifications (verifications, errors, warnings).

Google Tag Assistant
Google Tag Assistant

The Enable selection, followed by page refresh, will result in the No tags found notification appearing under the Result of Tag Analysis section, indicating that no code has been defined on the page. Below are explanations for the other commonly encountered notifications:

  • A green icon indicates that the snippet is valid2. The number on the icon indicates the count of detected tags.
  • A blue icon generally indicates that the snippet is valid, but additional recommendations for improvements related to the installation are available3.
  • A yellow icon indicates that the tag has minor application issues.
  • A red icon indicates the presence of critical application issues related to the tag.

To access detailed information about the notifications based on the above colors, simply click on the relevant notification. This will allow you to see how many tags, errors, and warnings are present on the page, as well as which resources should be examined to resolve the specific errors and warnings. You may also review the following resources regarding alerts:

  • Google Tag Manager4
  • Google Analytics5
  • Google Ads6
  • Google Ads – Remarketing7
  • Google Ads – Conversion Tracking8
  • Google Global Site Tag9

Google Tag Assistant: Recordings

Google Tag Assistant Recordings, a feature of the Google Tag Assistant extension available in the Chrome internet browser, records tags, events, and interactions for randomly visited web pages or site flows when the recording mode is active. This enables users to evaluate and report on their online journeys through the Google Tag Assistant Recordings tool. These reports can be used in processes involving UI improvements and code integration validation. Additionally, we can ensure that data collected via snippets is properly aggregated. To initiate the Recording process, the Record option within the Google Tag Assistant interface must be enabled10.

GTM Recordings
GTM Recordings

After the recording session begins, users must click the Stop Recording button to view the reports. Subsequently, tag summaries (recording summaries) will be available under both the Tag Assistant Report and the Google Analytics Report sections11. Below, you can see some example issues that may arise, based on the reports generated after the recording process12.

  • Redirecting users from ad-driven traffic to pages unrelated or irrelevant to the ad content,
  • Missing engaging content elements and buttons/links on the relevant pages,
  • Inability to guide users along the intended page structure and navigation paths as defined by the target objectives…

As evident, it is possible to gain extensive insights about users through the Google Tag Assistant and Recording features, and to improve our pages based on these data. However, please note that reports generated via recording are temporary and will be deleted when the browser window is closed or when a new recording is initiated.

Analytics Mania

Footnotes

  1. Tag Assistant (by Google). Chrome Web Store ↩
  2. How to use the Tag Assistant Chrome extension. Tag Assistant Help ↩
  3. Tag Assistant Chrome extension user options. Tag Assistant Help ↩
  4. Google Tag Manager Errors. Tag Assistant Help ↩
  5. Google Analytics Errors. Tag Assistant Help ↩
  6. AdWords Remarketing Errors. Tag Assistant Help ↩
  7. AdWords Remarketing Errors. Tag Assistant Help ↩
  8. AdWords Conversion Tracking Errors. Tag Assistant Help ↩
  9. Global Site Tag (gtag.js) Errors. Tag Assistant Help ↩
  10. Julius Fedorovicius. (2019). Google Tag Assistant Tutorial: 10 Tips For Efficient Work. ↩
  11. Learn about Tag Assistant Recordings. Google Analytics Help ↩
  12. Learn about Tag Assistant Recordings. Google Analytics Help ↩
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