Google Analytics : Part: 31

Recommended Events in Google Analytics 4

Updated:?April 13th, 2022

There’s a lot to cover when it comes to event tracking in GA4. But since the platform is now event-based, it’s natural that I have a bunch of guides related just to events. In this quick guide, we’ll take a closer look at one group of events, recommended events.

The list of recommended events (in alphabetical order)

I presume that some of the visitors of this blog post are just looking for the full list of all recommended events in Google Analytics 4. If you’re one of them, then here it is. I have combined all lists from Google’s documentation into a single list. But if you want to learn the full picture of the recommended events, then jump to the next chapter and read/watch with great attention.

• add_payment_info?(when a user submits their payment information).
• Parameters:?coupon, currency, items, payment_type, value.
• add_shipping_info?(when a user submits their shipping information).
• Parameters:?coupon, currency, items, shipping_tier, value.
• add_to_cart?(when a user adds items to a cart).
• Parameters:?currency, items, value.
• add_to_wishlist?(when a user adds items to a wishlist).
• Parameters:?currency, items, value.
• begin_checkout?(when a user begins the checkout).
• Parameters:?coupon, currency, items, value.
• earn_virtual_currency?(when a user has earned virtual currency (coins, gems, tokens, etc.)).
• Parameters:?virtual_currency_name, value.
• generate_lead?(when a user submits a form or request for information).
• Parameters:?value, currency.
• join_group?(when a user joins a group).
• Parameters:?group_id.
• level_end?(when a user completes a level in the game).
• Parameters:?level_name, success.
• level_start?(when a user starts a new level in the game).
• Parameters:?level_name.
• level_up?(when a player levels-up in the game).
• Parameters:?character, level.
• login?(when a user logs in).
• Parameters:?method.
• post_score?(when a player posts his or her score).
• Parameters:?level, character, score.
• purchase?(when items are purchased by a user).
• Parameters:?affiliation, coupon, currency, items, transaction_id, shipping, tax, value.
• refund?(when a refund is issued).
• Parameters:?affiliation, coupon, currency, items, transaction_id, shipping, tax, value.
• remove_from_cart?(when a user removes items from a cart).
• Parameters:?currency, items, value.
• search?(when a user searches your content).
• Parameters:?search_term.
• select_content?(when a user has selected content).
• Parameters:?content_type, item_id.
• select_item?(when an item is selected from a list).
• Parameters:?items, item_list_name, item_list_id.
• select_promotion?(when a user selects a promotion).
• Parameters:?items, promotion_id, promotion_name, creative_name, creative_slot, location_id.
• share?(when a user has shared content).
• Parameters:?content_type, item_id.
• sign_up?(when a user has signed up).
• Parameters:?method.
• spend_virtual_currency?(when a user has spent virtual currency (coins, gems, tokens, etc.)).
• Parameters:?item_name, virtual_currency_name, value.
• tutorial_begin?(when a user begins a tutorial).
• No parameters.
• tutorial_complete?(When a user completes a tutorial).
• No parameters.
• unlock_achievement?(when a player unlocks an achievement).
• Parameters:?achievement_id.
• view_cart?(when a user views their cart).
• Parameters:?currency, items, value.
• view_item?(when a user views an item).
• Parameters:?currency, items, value.
• view_item_list?(when a user sees a list of items/offerings).
• Parameters:?items, item_list_name, item_list_id.
• view_promotion?(when a promotion is shown to a user).
• Parameters:?items, promotion_id, promotion_name, creative_name, creative_slot, location_id.

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And now let’s move to the actual tutorial on recommended events in Google Analytics 4.

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Video

If you prefer video tutorials, I have published one on my Youtube channel.?Subscribe to it?to stay up-to-date with Google Analytics 4.

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GA4 event tracking in a nutshell

Recommended events are just a part of the entire event tracking concept in Google Analytics 4. So if you want to learn the full picture, feel free to?read this guide instead. It covers 4 types of events (including recommended events).

But if you are in a hurry, here’s the process in a nutshell. There are 4 types of events in Google Analytics 4: Automatically tracked events, Enhanced Measurement, Recommended events, and Custom events.

When you are planning to track a particular interaction, you have to come up with the event name. According to GA’s recommendation, first, you should check whether that event is not already covered by automatic tracking or by Enhanced Measurement. If you did not find an event there, then check the list of Recommended Events.?And in this blog post, we’ll focus on them.

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Recommended events in Google Analytics 4

I’ll repeat myself here a bit. When you are trying to pick the name (and the parameters) for your event, first take a look at automatically tracked events (maybe those events are already being tracked), then check the Enhanced Measurement events. If none of those events cover your case, take a look at the list of recommended events. Google has published several pages for different industries:

• Generic (for all properties)
• Retail/Ecommerce
• Jobs, education, real estate
• Travel
• Games

And if you prefer seeing all those events in a single list, then?scroll up?and read the first chapter of this blog post.

Check every one of those lists and see if any of the events match your need.?For example, if you want to track when a user logs in, then you will find the “login” event in the list of “All properties”.

Even though Google Analytics 4 data model is very flexible (and you can use a different event name for login, for example,?logged_in), Google recommends that you implement their recommend events when it makes sense to you. That should help Google Analytics’ reports better understand your data and apply it in their Machine Learning capabilities. However, I still don’t know what are those capabilities (at least in late 2020).

Also, for the majority of those recommended events, Google also recommends some parameters. Speaking of the?login?event, there is a?method?parameter. If users can log in to your website via?email, google login, facebook login,?etc., then it might make sense to track the method as well.

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Example of a Recommended Event: login tracking

Let’s continue with the aforementioned login example. Let’s say that I am working on a website where visitors can log in. I want to track the exact moment when users/visitors do so and which login method are they using.

I have asked a developer to activate the following?dataLayer.push?code when a user logs in to his/her account.

<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
window.dataLayer.push({
	'event' : 'login',
	'loginMethod' : 'email' // this should be replaced with an actual login method
});
</script>        

The value of the?loginMethod?should be replaced with the actual login method that a user used. That is the developer’s job to write custom code that replaces it.

When a developer implements that code and I successfully login, in?GTM’s preview mode, I should see the following Data Layer event (see the screenshot below). Now, keep in mind that this event a GTM (or Data Layer) event. It is not sent to GA4 (or any other platform) yet. Right now, it is just a collection of data points that are at our disposal, meaning that we can send the data further to other tools like GA or FB pixel (or any other analytics/marketing platform that we use).

Now, let’s create a?Data Layer Variable?that will access the value of the?loginMethod?and also a?Custom Event Trigger?for the?login?event in the Data Layer.

In Google Tag Manager, go to?Triggers > New > Custom Event, enter the following settings, and press?Save:

Then go to?Variables > User-defined variables > New > Data Layer Variable?and enter the following settings:

I entered the?loginMethod?because that is exactly what a developer pushed to the?Data Layer. If your parameter’s name is different, then enter that name. Important: variable names are case-sensitive.

After you create a variable and a trigger, it’s time to create a Google Analytics 4 event tag. With it, we will be able to send the event data to GA4.

In Google Tag Manager, go to?Tags > New > Google Analytics: GA4 Event.

Before you do this, I expect that you are already tracking pageviews and you already have a GA4 configuration tag. If you are new to it,?read this guide?(that also includes a video) to the migration guide. In a nutshell, the GA4 configuration tag is usually responsible for containing your GA4 Measurement ID and some additional configurations (if you have them).

So, when you create a new GA4 event tag, you will need to:

• Define the GA property ID (also known as a Measurement ID)
• And then event name + parameters

In order to avoid manual work and setting up all the fields/customizations (such as GA Measurement ID) in every tag, you should select your main configuration tag in the event tag.

If you are familiar with Universal Analytics and you used to manage this in Google Tag Manager, the concept of the Configuration Tag is pretty close to the?GA Settings Variable. That tag can contain a lot of settings/configurations. If you use that tag in your other GA4 tags, they will inherit the changes.

But at the same time, you can still configure additional settings in your event tag. If a particular parameter/field is configured in both the event tag and in the configuration tag, the event tag’s field gets a higher priority.

Now, let’s continue the configuration of an event. Enter the event name. Since we are tracking the login event and the name “login” is recommended by Google, this is exactly what we are going to enter.

And then let’s enter an additional parameter, the login method. To do that, expand the?Event Parameters?section, click?Add Row?, and then enter?method?in the?Parameter Name?field and insert the previously created Data Layer Variable in the?Value?field. You can insert the variable by clicking the button next to that field.

Why did I enter the?method?in the?Parameter Name?field??Because I saw that in the list of?Recommended Events.

What about custom parameters? What if you also want to pass the user’s pricing plan or something else? Sure, you can do that. But I will explain custom parameters/dimensions?in this blog post. All you need to know right now is that it’s completely possible to send custom parameters with recommended events.

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Test your recommended events in Google Analytics 4

Once you configure your recommended events, it’s time to test them. The primary feature built for debugging GA 4 data is the?DebugView?section. You can find it at the bottom left corner of your GA4 interface. Click it.

That’s the place where your debugging should take the place. Do not mix this with the GTM Preview and Debug mode. They are two different beasts.

To enable the DebugView in GA4, you have several options (any of them will work):

• Enable the GA debugger Chrome extension
• Send a?debug_mode?parameter together with an event
• Have enabled Google Tag Manager’s Preview mode on a page that you’re debugging

In this blog post, I will focus on the 3rd option. In other words, you just need to have the GTM Preview mode enabled to start seeing data in the GA DebugView.

When you start seeing data in the DebugView, you can click on every individual event and then a list of parameters will be displayed. In the screenshot below, I am already seeing the login event.

Click on that event (1) and you will see the parameters that were sent with it to GA4. Let’s check the value of the?method?parameter. Click it (2) and then you will see the value (3). Now that is some granular debugging!

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However, I have noticed some delays between the event actually happening on a website and then appearing in?DebugView. Sometimes, I have to wait for several minutes until the events come in, and then they are sent into the past (as I have to scroll down to “10 minutes ago” to see the event that was just displayed). That’s a bit unfortunate and hopefully, the team behind Google Analytics 4 will improve this in the future.

I have read that it is very important to check your device’s (e.g. laptop’s) clock and make sure that is it not skewed. But I can rest assured that the clock on my device was precise.

Also, make sure that you have selected the correct Debug device in the top left corner.

If multiple visitors have enabled the debug view (e.g. they all have enabled the Chrome extension), you will see multiple devices there and it might require some time to find yourself. This especially applies to my blog, when many of my readers have enabled the GA Debugger Extension and I have to guess which device (out of the other 15) is mine?

Once you made sure that the data is coming in and it is displayed properly, you should submit your GA4 changes in the GTM container and publish it.

You can do that by clicking the SUBMIT button in the top right corner and then complete all the other steps that the user interface asks you to do.

After that, you should soon start seeing the new data coming in your real-time reports as well.

On the left sidebar of the Google Analytics 4 interface, go to?Realtime. This is where you will see the data coming into your reports. Unlike in the previous version (Universal Analytics), the new report offers you the capabilities to see the data on a much more granular level.

First, you will see a map and a bunch of cards with traffic sources, most popular events, the number of users in the last 30 minutes (by the way, Universal Analytics real-time report shows the number of users in the last 5 minutes).

You can also take a look at the snapshot of an individual user. You can do that by clicking the?View user snapshot?button in the top right corner.

Then, you will see a stream of all events of that particular user, you can click on them (just like in the?DebugView) to see things on a more granular level. If you wish to look at another user/visitor, you can click the button here:

To exit the snapshot, simply press the?Exit snapshot?button in the top right corner.

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Register event parameters as custom dimensions (this applies even to Recommended Events)

UPDATE:?looks like some dimensions are already available by default (like method or group id) and you no longer need to register them as custom dimensions.

Now, this is something weird. Even if you are sending recommended parameters together with events to GA4, you still have to register them as custom definitions (if you want to use them in reports). Yes, you read it right.

If you send a recommended?login?event and you want to use the recommended parameter?method?in the Analysis Hub, you will need to register that parameter as a custom dimension. This even applies to parameters automatically tracked by Enhanced Measurement. Want to see/use the?link_url?of the outbound link click in your reports? Register it as a custom dimension.

In Google Analytics 4, go to?All Events?and then click?Manage Custom Definitions. This is where we are going to register the?method?parameter.

Click the?Create Custom Dimensions?button and then enter the name of the first parameter that you sent. In my case, that is?menu_item_url. Save it.

And now we wait. Within the next 24 hours, the custom parameters will start appearing in your Google Analytics 4 reports. That’s why it’s recommended to register the parameter as soon as you can.

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Recommended events in Google Analytics 4: Final Words

And that is the essentials that you should know about recommended events in GA4. To sum up:

• If you want to track an event with GA4, you should first check whether that event is not already covered by automatic tracking and enhanced measurement. If not, then check the list of recommended events.
• The purpose of these events is to help GA better understand what kind of data are you sending in and in which reports to display it. For example, events like?purchase?will be displayed in the Monetization reports.??Hopefully, in the future, GA will offer more predefined reports and then more of the recommended events will be displayed there. Also, GA says that recommended events will help us benefit from Machine Learning more. What does that mean? That’s still unknown to me.
• Even if you are sending recommended parameters together with recommended events in Google Analytics 4, you still have to register them as custom definitions in the GA4 interface. That’s a quite weird decision but it is what it is.