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Understanding the Coexistence of Google Analytics 4 Scripts for Analytics and Tag Manager
“I’m new to GA4 and I’ve managed to set up a reporting script in the
<head>part of my site, but I can’t see user activity data under Engagement > Pages and Screen. Should I be patient or is there something else I need to do? Also, when I tried to link my GA account to Google Tag Manager, it didn’t work and I had to create a new account. Shouldn’t the same account work for both sites? They gave me two new scripts to add to my site. What makes them different from the one I initially uploaded? Do I need to put all three scripts on each page of my site?” -
2 Replies
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Sure, here’s a more casual walkthrough of your questions:
Scripts on the Site
You can choose either the first script OR the second and third ones. I tend to not use the third one anymore, because it’s more of a backup for users who don’t have JavaScript enabled.
However, be cautious about using both the first and second script together, as it might result in duplicate data.
Different Scripts Explained
The first script you’re referring to is the Google Tag (gtag.js). It’s more of a basic or simpler form of Google Tag Manager (GTM).
The other one is GTM itself. Now, GTM isn’t just a plug and play script. It’s a tag management system and you need to properly configure it. That means, you need to manually add a GA4 “tag” to start collecting data.
Linking Accounts
No worries, you don’t necessarily have to use the same Google account for GA and GTM. But for simplicity, it does help to use the same account if you’re the only one accessing it. I’ve personally managed GTM “containers” without having access to the corresponding GA4 accounts and vice versa.
Viewing Data
In GA4, you won’t be able to see today’s data except in the Realtime view. If you’d like to see your own events immediately, try using the Debug Mode to see them in the Debug View. If you need more insights, you could link Big Query to your GA4 property which allows you to see “traffic” in the intraday table/database. Just keep in mind, all data is subject to Google Analytics’ rules on data freshness.
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Sometimes it takes a bit for Google Analytics 4 to start showing data, so a little patience might be needed. As for Google Tag Manager, you can use the same Google account, but you need to create a new container for your site within the manager. The scripts they gave you for the manager are different because they allow additional tracking features beyond what basic GA offers. You should replace the original GA script with the Tag Manager scripts on all pages.
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