Setup Guide

Set up and configure Google Tag Manager as a destination in RudderStack.

  •   3 minute read  

This guide will help you set up Google Tag Manager as a destination in the RudderStack dashboard. It also lists the configuration settings required to correctly send data from the supported sources to Google Tag Manager.

Connection compatibility

Destination info
  • Status: Generally Available
  • Supported sources: Web
  • Refer to it as GTM in the Integrations object.

Connection modes
SourceCloud modeDevice modeHybrid mode
Webnot supportedsupportednot supported
Supported message types
SourceIdentifyPageTrackScreenGroupAliasRecord
Device mode
Websupportedsupportedsupportednot supportednot supportednot supportednot supported
info

In the web device mode integration, that is, using JavaScript SDK as a source, RudderStack loads the Google Tag Manager native SDK from the https://www.googletagmanager.com/ domain.

Based on your website’s content security policy, you might need to allowlist this domain to load the Google Tag Manager SDK successfully.

Setup

In your RudderStack dashboard, add a source. Then, from the list of destinations, select Google Tag Manager.

Connection settings

SettingDescription
Container IDYour Google Tag Manager container ID. You can get it by going to the Admin section of your Google Tag Manager dashboard.
Custom Domain URLSpecify your domain URL (for example, https://your-domain.com) used to load the Tag Manager scripts instead of Google’s domain (https://www.googletagmanager.com/).
Environment IDSpecify the ID of the environment used for the Tag Manager container.
Authorization TokenSpecify the authorization token for the above environment.

See FAQ for more information on obtaining the environment ID and token.
Client-side Events FilteringThis setting lets you specify which events should be blocked or allowed to flow through to Google Tag Manager.

For more information on this setting, see the Client-side Events Filtering guide.

Web SDK settings

SettingDescription
Use device mode to send eventsThis setting is turned on by default as this is a web device mode-only integration.
Consent management settingsConfigure the consent management settings for the specified source by choosing the Consent management provider from the dropdown and entering the relevant consent category IDs. See Consent Management in RudderStack for more information on this feature.
info
You can load Google Tag Manager on any page where you initialize the RudderStack snippet and call the page event.

Load RudderStack as a custom HTML tag

You can also load RudderStack as a custom tag in Google Tag Manager. However, loading Google Tag Manager through RudderStack is recommended, by following the steps described in the above section.

The following image demonstrates how you can add RudderStack as a custom HTML tag which can then be called through Google Tag Manager:

RudderStack as a custom tag

Next steps

FAQ

Where can I find the Google Tag Manager Container ID?

You can find your Tag Manager container ID in the admin section of your Google Tag Manager dashboard. It is present in the format GTM-XXXXXXX.

How can I obtain the Environment ID and Authorization Token fields for the Google Tag Manager destination?

  1. Define your environment in the Google Tag Manager dashboard. Click the Environments option in the Container menu to get started. See Define environments in Google Tag Manager for the detailed steps.
Environments option in GTM dashboard
  1. Go to Custom Environments and select the environment you created above.
  2. Click Actions > Get Snippet.
Get snippet option in GTM dashboard
  1. Copy the gtm_auth and gtm_preview values in the snippet.
Auth token and Environment ID fields in GTM snippet
  1. Specify the values for gtm_auth and gtm_preview in the Authorization Token and Environment ID destination settings in the RudderStack dashboard, respectively.

I am getting a 404 error when using Google Tag Manager. What should I do?

If you are getting a 404 error on the JavaScript console of your web page related to the Google Tag Manager, verify if you have published your Google Tag Manager Container. Follow this guide for more information.


Questions? Contact us by email or on Slack