Google Tag Manager introduces container quality status bar for easier tag management

Google this month introduced a new feature for Google Tag Manager (GTM) that simplifies the process of maintaining accurate website tracking. The update introduces a container quality status bar on the GTM overview, providing a quick and easy way to identify potential issues with website tags.

Benefits of the Container Quality Status Bar

This new feature offers several benefits for digital marketers and website owners who rely on Google Tag Manager to collect website data and track user behavior.

Improved Tag Monitoring: The container quality status bar provides a centralized location to view the overall health of your GTM container. This includes identifying potential issues with tag configuration, missing elements, and untagged pages.

Prioritized Issue Resolution: The status bar categorizes detected issues into four severity levels: Excellent, Good, Needs Attention, and Urgent. This prioritization allows users to focus on critical issues that could significantly impact data collection.

Simplified Troubleshooting: Clicking on the status bar provides more detailed information about each detected issue. This includes explanations of the problem and links to relevant resources to help users troubleshoot and fix the issue.

Similarities to Existing Google Tag Diagnostics

The container quality status bar builds upon Google's existing Tag Diagnostics tool, which is already available within Google Ads and Google Analytics 4. Both tools use similar terminology (Excellent, Good, Needs Attention, Urgent) to categorize the severity of tag-related issues. However, the container quality status bar offers a broader perspective by providing an overall health check for the entire GTM container, whereas Tag Diagnostics focuses on individual tags within Google Ads or Google Analytics.

Technical Details of Container Quality Checks

According to Google's support documentation, the container quality status bar currently checks for several specific issues:

Additional Domains Detected for Configuration: This identifies situations where website visitors might travel across multiple domains during their journey (e.g., landing on one domain and converting on another). If these additional domains are not configured within GTM, data collection might be incomplete.

Config Command Out of Order: This occurs when event tracking code is placed before configuration code within a tag. This can lead to inaccurate data processing.

Consent Mode Installation Out of Order: Improper installation order for consent mode commands can result in inaccurate reporting of user consent for data collection.

Missing Conversion Linker: This applies to users who utilize Google Ads conversion tracking and haven't set up the necessary conversion linker tag within GTM.

Untagged Pages: The status bar can identify website pages that lack any tracking tags, potentially leading to data gaps.

While Google Tag Manager boasts a comprehensive support library, it appears out of sync with the latest features. The document referenced as the most recent update was last updated on October 25, 2023, with no mention of the container quality status bar. This creates a gap between documented features and what users actually experience within the platform. Google should prioritize keeping its support documentation current to avoid confusing users and potentially hindering their ability to leverage new features effectively.