Field notes on conversion tracking
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Allga4 · 31gtm · 17ecommerce · 9attribution · 8debugging · 8google-ads · 8consent-mode-v2 · 7privacy · 7reporting · 6tracking-quality · 68 posts tagged debugging. Show all
- 3 min read
Your homepage is tracked. Is your product page?
Nearly half of audited sites warn or fail the deep-page check: the measurement IDs that load on the homepage do not load on a product or article page. It is the most common partial failure we see, and the easiest to miss.
tracking-qualitygtmga4Read the post
- 3 min read
The GTM debug parameters that should never reach production, and how they get there
gtm_preview and gtm_auth in a production container URL mean real visitors are loading a debug workspace. It is rare, always serious, and usually caused by copying a snippet from the wrong place.
gtmdebuggingtracking-qualityRead the post
- 3 min read
Shop Pay, Apple Pay and express checkouts: where Shopify purchase events go missing
Express checkouts skip the pages your purchase tag was listening to. If GA4 shows fewer purchases than Shopify and the gap is a steady share rather than a one-off, this is usually why. Here is how to prove it and how to fix it.
ecommerceshopifyga4Read the post
- 3 min read
Why tracking decays after launch, and what breaks it
Nobody sets out to break the purchase event. It happens anyway, a few months after the setup was signed off, because of a theme update, an app install, or a consent banner change. Here are the seven ordinary events that silently take tracking down.
tracking-qualitygtmecommerceRead the post
- 5 min read
Debugging the Meta Pixel: from Pixel Helper to Events Manager
When Meta reports fewer conversions than you expect, the cause is almost always the pixel — not the algorithm. Here is the debugging path from browser to Events Manager.
meta-pixeldebuggingattributionRead the post
- 5 min read
How to actually verify Google Consent Mode is working
Installing a consent banner is not the same as Consent Mode working. Here is how to confirm the gtag consent signals are firing in the right order — before, not after, your tags.
consent-mode-v2debuggingprivacyRead the post
- 5 min read
How to debug tags in the browser (without GTM Preview)
GTM Preview is great until you can't use it — a client site you don't have container access to, a production-only bug, a competitor teardown. You can debug almost any tag from the browser alone.
debugginggtmbrowser-extensionRead the post
- 5 min read
Your conversions just dropped 40%: a 15-minute debugging runbook
Conversions cratered overnight and nobody deployed "anything." Before you blame the ad platform, run this ordered runbook — it finds the tracking cause in about 15 minutes, most of the time.
debuggingmonitoringgtmRead the post