Tracking governance for agencies: naming, access, change logs
Tracking governance for agencies: naming conventions for GTM and GA4, least-privilege access in GTM, GA4 and Google Ads, and change logs that hold up.
Dimitris
Dimitris builds Tracking Whisper and writes about tracking, analytics and data from the work the agent does every day: GTM containers, GA4 properties, ad platforms and the numbers in between.
Every article and definition on this site is written by Dimitris, checked against the platforms' own documentation and listed with its sources. When Google, Meta or a browser changes something, the affected articles are updated and dated. Read more about Tracking Whisper.
25 articles · 10 definitionsArticles by Dimitris
Reporting AI traffic to clients: a monthly agency template
A monthly template for reporting AI traffic to clients: GA4 AI Assistant sessions, Search Console AI impressions, Bing citations, caveats and actions.
Enhanced conversions for web and leads: set up and verify
Google Ads merged enhanced conversions for web and leads into one setting in 2026. How to set it up in GTM, upload leads and verify the em parameter.
First-party data in 2026: what still works in Chrome and Safari
Chrome kept third-party cookies and is retiring most Privacy Sandbox APIs. Safari still caps script cookies. What first-party measurement works in 2026.
AI agents in analytics: what's safe, and where a human approves
Which analytics tasks an AI agent can run on its own, which need human approval, and how to set GTM, GA4 and Google Ads permissions so the line holds.
The dataLayer spec: how to write one developers build in a day
How to write a dataLayer specification developers can build in a day: structure, event definitions, GA4 ecommerce and consent examples, and acceptance tests.
Incrementality tests without a data science team
How to run incrementality tests without data scientists: Google Ads Conversion Lift, Meta lift tests, simple geo holdouts and the SQL to read them honestly.
Marketing mix modelling for mid-size budgets
When marketing mix modelling is worth it on a mid-size budget, how much data you need, and where Google Meridian, Meta Robyn and PyMC-Marketing stand in 2026.
Why GA4, Google Ads and Meta never agree, and which to trust
Why GA4, Google Ads and Meta report different conversions: attribution, windows, dates, views, modelling and consent, and how to reconcile them.
GA4 and BigQuery: 10 queries every marketer should keep
Ten tested SQL queries for the GA4 BigQuery export: sessions, channels, landing pages, revenue, duplicates, products, funnels, leads and AI referrals.
The measurement plan: a template developers and marketers read
A measurement plan template for GA4, Google Ads and Meta that both marketers and developers can use: goals, KPIs, events, parameters, consent and QA.
GEO vs SEO: measuring citation share and AI visibility
GEO and SEO share most of their work but not their metrics. How to measure AI visibility with citation share, AI impressions, AI referrals and a prompt panel.
Data quality monitoring: catch broken tracking before reports do
How to monitor tracking data quality across GA4, Google Ads, Meta and BigQuery: built-in alerts, BigQuery checks and a routine that catches breaks early.
Black Friday tracking readiness: what to check six weeks out
A Black Friday 2026 tracking checklist: GTM freeze, purchase and consent checks, Meta deduplication, BigQuery limits and Smart Bidding seasonality adjustments.
Meta Conversions API and the pixel: deduplication done right
How Meta deduplicates pixel and Conversions API events: matching event_id and event name, the 48-hour window, GTM setup, and how to check it in Events Manager.
Duplicate purchase events in GA4: find, fix, prevent
How to find duplicate purchase events in GA4 with explorations, Tag Assistant and BigQuery, fix each cause in GTM or the site, and stop them from coming back.
GA4 ecommerce tracking: 12 mistakes that inflate revenue
Twelve GA4 ecommerce tracking mistakes that push reported revenue above your shop's real sales, how to spot each one and the dataLayer fix Google documents.
The GTM audit checklist: 40 checks for every container
A 40-point Google Tag Manager audit checklist for 2026: access, installation, versions, tags, triggers, variables, consent, container size and security.
Search Console's generative AI report: AI Overviews and AI Mode
How to read Search Console's generative AI performance report: what counts as an impression, why there are no clicks, and how to report it honestly.
Server-side tagging in 2026: when it pays off, when it doesn't
What server-side GTM really costs in 2026, what it fixes and what it doesn't, and when Google tag gateway or a plain client-side setup is the better call.
Offline conversions moved to the Data Manager API: a guide
Google Ads API offline conversion uploads closed to new users on 15 June 2026. How to move CRM conversion imports to the Data Manager API, step by step.
Google Ads API after developer tokens: the 9 September change
Google sunset Google Ads API developer tokens on 9 September 2026. Access levels now live on Google Cloud projects. What changed and what to check.
Consent Mode v2 in 2026: an EU checklist that holds up
A 2026 checklist for Consent Mode v2 in the EEA: the four parameters, basic vs advanced, the June 2026 GA4 change, TCF v2.3 and how to verify in GTM.
Google tag and GTM are merging: what Destinations change
Google's August 2026 update turns Google tags into GTM containers and lets containers send data to Google destinations directly. What changes and what to check.
GA4's AI Assistant channel: measuring ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude
GA4 now has an AI Assistant channel in the Default Channel Group. What it classifies, what it misses, and how to report AI chatbot traffic you can trust.