Google Tag Manager

Hi Nicolas.
I have hired a marketing company for a Google Ads campaign.
They mentioned that there are many "unassigned" entries in the campaign data collection, and they are finding it difficult to do their job because they are not receiving data from the Tag Manager tag (except on the homepage).
I don’t have much knowledge about this.
I’m attaching the 3 screenshots they sent me.
Thank you for your time.

Hi,

All the javascript code on your screenshots are not from something we developed on our end as far as I can see.
It must have been added on your end via other joomla plugins or components or the template, or some customization.

If you want data added by HikaShop, you want to use this plugin:
www.hikashop.com/marketplace/product/108...egration-google.html

Now, this is not a complete solution for any SEO need you might have on a Joomla website. This plugin is specifically targeted at firing events for Google Analytics related to HikaShop product listings, product detail pages, the checkout, and sales. If your marketing company need special data collection, they might have to develop their own plugin or use and configure a Joomla Google Tag Manager plugin built specifically for that. For example:
www.analyticsforjoomla.com/google-tag-manager-plugin/

Hello Nicolas,
I have spoken with the Marketing company.
They told me that the instructions for writing to you were explained incorrectly.
They asked me to send you the following:
"I'm sorry, but the problem we're dealing with is not with Google Tag Manager, but with Google Analytics 4. We've already installed the plugin, but there seems to be an issue with the tracking, and most of the sales are being assigned to the "unassigned" channel. Because of this, our Ads team is unable to analyze the impact of their campaigns on the website.
Could you please help us?"
Thanks

Hi,

We would need more information to be able to help.
You say that "most of the sales are being assigned to the unassigned channel". So I suppose that it means it works for some of the sales ? And in that case, it means that the plugin passes to GA the necessary data when it has it. And thus, it would rather mean that the channel data is missing upstream of the plugin.
Also, from what I can read on www.optimizesmart.com/what-is-unassigned...4-and-how-to-fix-it/ there are many reasons which could lead to the information being dropped, like the use of ad blockers, which I'm sure many customers must be using on their browser.
So I'm not sure there is anything we can do to help with this situation.
What I would recommend is to activate the "debug" setting of the plugin. This way, the plugin will add debug data in the "payment log file" available under the Main tab of the HikaShop configuration page.
That way, you'll be able to see what the plugin sends to GA for each order after the payment.
Then, we can compare what you get for an order which has its channel assigned and for an order which doesn't have its channel assigned. Maybe that will allow us to better understand what's going on.
Also, make sure you're using the latest version of the GA plugin available at www.hikashop.com/marketplace/product/108...egration-google.html
Older versions might be missing the session_id or the client_id preventing GA from properly matching the measurement protocol requests.

Nicolas, I will try what you mentioned.
I see that the API secret in the plugin has a number that I don’t recall entering manually (and if I did, I don’t remember).
Is this field mandatory?
If it is, where can I get the correct code if I don’t have it?

Hi Nicolas.
I’ve checked the API, and it’s correct.
I’ll try debugging the plugin, and I’ll let you know if I have any questions

Hello again, Nicolas.
The plugin debugging was already enabled beforehand.
When I check the 'payment log' report, there is so much code that I wouldn’t know where to look to see if it can help with what we need.
Is there any specific parameter I should focus on?
What do you recommend I do to know exactly what we are looking for and how to fix any potential 'errors'?

Hi,

First, you need to know the order number of one of the latest orders with an assigned channel in GA, and the order number of one of the latest orders with an unassigned channel in GA. Then, open the log and search for these order numbers. You should find the debug data relative to these orders around the order numbers.
You can then provide us with the data so that we can compare them.

Hello Nicolas,
Last night, I tried making a purchase via CPC (order F7Z2P7Z94).
Later, I spoke with a customer who had items in her shopping cart, and she told me she accessed the site via organic search, looking for Hermanos Galiano on Google (she completed order F7Z2Q7A95).
In both cases, they were assigned to the UNASSIGNED channel.
I will send you the payment log file via the contact form, as well as super user access.
Please let me know if you need anything else.

Hi Nicolas
Where can I send you the .txt file with the payment log?
As I have sent super user access, you can also check it yourself.
I remain at your disposal if you would like me to send it to you...

Hi,

We also need the debug data for an order with a channel assigned so that we can compare.
You can provide the private information via our contact form:
www.hikashop.com/support/contact-us.html

Hi Nicolas,
In the email I sent this morning with the access details, I included an example of an order via CPC and another via ORGANIC so that you could check it yourself if you log in to our website with the super user credentials I provided.
What’s concerning is that almost 100% of the sales are being categorized as UNASSIGNED.
I believe I’ve already sent you all the information I have this morning through the contact form.
I’m not sure what else I can send you

Hi,

In your email you said "In both cases, they were assigned to the UNASSIGNED channel.".
Previously, your marketing company said "most of the sales are being assigned to the "unassigned" channel". So I understand that some of the sales are not set to the "UNASSIGNED" channel but to another channel.
So I would like to get the debug data for an order which has not been set to that "UNASSIGNED" channel so that I can compare the data being sent.

Hi Nicolas.
The purchase nº F7Z2M7T43 has been asigned google / organic
I attach screeshoot.

Hi Nicolas,
I noticed that you logged into the website, and I assume you are working on it.
In case it’s helpful, the website went down a few minutes ago because SITEGROUND had issues with PHP version 8.3, and it was downgraded to 8.2.
The website is now functioning normally

Hi,

I did look at the situation.
Unfortunately, I don't see any data in the log for that order F7Z2M7T43
So I assume that this order was created before the debug setting was turned on.
Do you have a newer order with the assignement valid and which is in the log ?

Hello Nicolas,
Debugging has been enabled since the plugin was installed months ago (I created another ticket asking about this because I was using Universal Analytics until then).
I’m attaching a screenshot of the latest orders, where all are marked as unassigned except for 72850 and 72829. At least 72850 appears in the log.
However, I have no problem giving you access to GA4 so you can run tests if needed...
Attach the screenshots.

Hi!!
If necessary, I have a payment log file (.txt) in which the details of order 72743 (which was assigned as Organic) are visible.
If it would help you, you can let me know an email address where I can send it.
I'm attaching a screenshot of the .txt file.

Hello Nicolas,
I'm not sure if you've been able to check anything yet.
I'm concerned about not having accurate tracking for my ADS campaigns.
In GA4, I'm seeing that the same order number has two default channel groups.
Order F7Z2T8N76 shows both Direct and Unassigned,
and order F7Z2S8W60 shows both Organic and Unassigned.

I'm attaching screenshots for your review.
It's clear that we're missing something

Hi,

You need to look for the order number in the log. The places where you see the order id are added by the payment plugin and are not related to the issue we're looking into here.

A main reason why the "unassigned" issue can happen is if the session_id parameter is missing:
stackoverflow.com/questions/77270569/ga4...results-in-source-me
I looked at the log for several orders and I can see the session_id and the client_id properly set in them.


Now, I can see that the PHP SDK sends the user_id and the timestamp_micros properties empty. Normally, it shouldn't matter.
Here is attached a new version of the plugin with these attributes provided. Install it to get the modifications.
Then, we can see if it helps or not. If not, then I'm out of ideas.