I’m working on a Shopify store (https://jaiio.fr) and currently have both Google Tag Manager (GTM) (added with a <script> tag in theme.liquid) and the Google & YouTube app enabled. PageSpeed shows duplicate requests to gtag.js (one from GTM with >m= and one from the app). To fix this, I’m planning to keep only the Google & YouTube app for Google Ads & Analytics and pause all GA4/Ads tags in GTM.
Before I proceed, I want to make sure I don’t lose any data. Could you please confirm the best practice for Shopify?
My plan is to:
Keep the Google & YouTube app so checkout tracking stays accurate.
In GTM: I’d pause all GA4 and Google Ads tags (incl. GA4 config), and possibly pause the Conversion Linker if no Google tags remain.
Here are my questions:
Is this the recommended setup to avoid double loading gtag.js and preserve complete ecommerce tracking (view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, purchase)?
I have custom business events that were fired via GTM (e.g., lead/step events on a “sell with us” flow). How could I I re-implement them without adding extra network load?
Appreciate any guidance or official recommendations. Thanks!
From My experience, i don’t recommend using Google and YouTube apps to track conversions for Google Ads and Google Analytics.
I had many experiences where I configured the Google and YouTube app and Google Tag Manager GTM to track conversions and GTM was way ahead of tracking conversions.
So it is always recommended from the tracking experts to configure the google ads and google analytics 4 through Google tag manager server-side tracking with first-party domain/subdomain to store first party cookies for gcl and ga
you can implement the google tag manager GTM with custom pixel instead of theme.liquid with a unique datalayer to push events to the GTM
answer:
You can use both App and GTM with customer events and using a custom datalayer to avoid data duplications
To configure custom events like (lead, sign up, form submission or button click) you must use google tag manager GTM to trigger the events otherwise you have to take help from developer to push a datalayer event and event tracking script when someone submits the form an event will be pushed and track the events.
Here you can see the discripancies between Google and youtube app and Google Tag Manager GTM that i configured from my clients.
I highly recommend using a dedicated conversion tracking app instead.
It would help simplify your setup, eliminate duplicate tags, and ensure accurate data through Shopify’s API (especially with the new checkout pages).
You can give Nabu for Google Ads Pixel a go. The app is fully Shopify approved (Built for Shopify) and works natively within the new checkout, so your purchase events, ROAS data, and remarketing audiences stay accurate. Unlike GTM-based tracking, AdNabu uses server-side event forwarding.
Since the app is built on Shopify’s API, it automatically stays compliant with Shopify, Google, and privacy updates. Unlike GTM setups, which can often break with checkout or consent policy changes.
Beyond this, if you ever get stuck anywhere or face any issues, there is a 24/7 support team.
it would be possible to set a custom pixel and fire events on form submissions or button presses with some JavaScript on the page?
At the moment, since I have a <script> tag in my theme.liquid, when I analyze https://jaiio.fr with PageSpeed Insights, I see several duplicate calls to Google Tag Manager appearing in multiple places.
