Sometimes, in Google Tag Manager\u2019s<\/a> Debug mode, you\u2019ll see tags appear with the status Still Running<\/strong>, and you\u2019ll (eventually) notice that these tags are not doing what they are supposed to be doing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you see this message on a tag, it technically means this:<\/p>\n The tag failed to signal Google Tag Manager that it is \u201cdone\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n The technical explanation is, naturally, too simple to be useful. In this article, I\u2019ll explore what \u201cdone\u201d means, and how especially Google Analytics tags manifest this behavior.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re only interested in the latter, feel free to jump to <\/a> the relevant section of this article.<\/p>\n \n \n Subscribe to the Simmer newsletter<\/a> to get the latest news and content from Simo Ahava into your email inbox!\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n By default, a tag is done when its code is executed, and the browser is ready to move on to the next script block in queue. This can happen if the browser reaches the end of the script in turn to be executed, or if the script throws an error that is not caught<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For example, take a Custom HTML Tag<\/strong> that looks like this:<\/p>\n When it\u2019s time to fire this tag, Google Tag Manager injects this tag to the end of As this is all run synchronously, by the time the browser has written What about if we have an asynchronous operation in the middle of the tag?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s simulate async with a simple timeout.<\/p>\n This time, when the tag\u2019s JavaScript is executed, the browser waits five seconds before writing to the console. So when does GTM signal tag completion? No, not after 5 seconds, but rather after the browser reaches the end of the With asynchronous operations, Google Tag Manager doesn\u2019t wait<\/em>. As with synchronous scripting, as soon as the browser reaches the end of the code block, the tag has Succeeded<\/strong>, regardless of how many asynchronous operations are still waiting for completion.<\/p>\n You can instruct Google Tag Manager to wait<\/strong> for an asynchronous operation to complete by utilizing callbacks<\/strong>. There are four different callbacks you\u2019d use, depending on use case, to signal Google Tag Manager that a tag has run its course:<\/p>\n So, if we wanted the browser to wait for the If invoking the callback with a significant delay (e.g. 5 seconds), you might see the tag as Still Running<\/strong> in Preview mode only for as long as the timeout lasts. As soon as the success callback is invoked, the status will change from Still Running<\/strong> to Succeeded<\/strong> (or Failure<\/strong> if that\u2019s the callback you ran with).<\/p>\n If you recall from the previous chapter, if the tag has no callbacks, GTM will signal completion once it reaches the end of the code block or if the code block throws a syntax error. Thus there\u2019s no actual way for a tag like this to signal it is \u201cStill running\u201d, as if the browser never reaches the end of the code block and the code never throws an error, it means the code is stuck in an infinite loop or memory leak, and the whole browser would freeze as a result.<\/p>\n However<\/strong>, as soon as you add either the Ergo, if the browser never reaches<\/strong> these callbacks when they are nevertheless present in the code, GTM will never receive the completion signal and will remain in \u201cStill running\u201d state.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example that will result in the tag being stuck in \u201cStill running\u201d limbo.<\/p>\n The browser will never reach the expression within the You can replace the callback with With tag templates<\/strong>, it\u2019s the same thing. If you run this:<\/p>\n This template would always have its tags be stuck in \u201cStill running\u201d state, since there\u2019s no way to reach that callback.<\/p>\n The lesson to be learned here?<\/p>\n Whenever you use callbacks in Custom HTML tags, or whenever you create custom tag templates, make sure at least SOME callback is always reached.<\/strong><\/p>\n Many of us<\/a> have experienced the \u201cStill running\u201d phenomenon with Google Analytics tags.<\/p>\n Based on what we learned in the previous chapters, we\u2019re now at an impasse. Google Analytics tags are not Custom HTML tags that you can fix the callbacks in, nor are they custom tag templates that you can modify to have the callback be invoked. So what are they?<\/p>\n They are tag templates, where the success<\/strong> callback is called as soon as the Google Analytics tag\u2019s <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n So, when a Google Analytics tag is \u201cStill running\u201d, it means its How does this happen? Here are the three most common reasons.<\/p>\n The Tracking ID<\/strong> field in your Google Analytics tags (in Google Tag Manager) is reserved for the tracking ID. The tracking ID is your property\u2019s Thus, the only<\/strong> thing you can have in a Tracking ID field is that string, or a variable which returns that string and nothing else<\/strong>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still extremely common to see people add a Google Analytics Settings variable<\/strong> to the Tracking ID field. This results in the Tracking ID field value resolving to an object<\/strong> (of your Google Analytics settings) rather than the required <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The result is that a tracker is created with incorrect settings, and the Best way to debug this is to use the Google Analytics Debugger browser extension<\/a>, and checking the console output. If you see something like this, your setup is broken:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Simple. Never use a Google Analytics Settings variable<\/strong> anywhere else<\/em> except a Google Analytics Settings field. Always check and double-check that the Tracking ID<\/strong> field contains a value or variable that resolves to If some other tool overwrites the global <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Easiest way to verify this is to open the JavaScript console<\/strong> of your page, and running the following command:<\/p>\n If the method has not<\/strong> been overwritten, you should see the number If you see anything else, most likely either NOTE!<\/strong> Ad blockers should not<\/em> have a say here. If the Google Analytics endpoint is blocked, the You can change the global method name to e.g. <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you\u2019re using analytics.js, you can rename the method name in the snippet<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is super annoying. It\u2019s a bona fide bug in my opinion, and I\u2019ve reported it as such.<\/p>\n If you create a Google Optimize tag, it actually loads the Optimize container as a Universal Analytics plugin<\/a>. The reason for this is that the plugin is used to dispatch experiment data to Google Analytics.<\/p>\n The problem is that in case the Optimize container does not exist (you\u2019ve deleted it or you had a typo in the container ID), the plugin load is never resolved and the processing of the This, in turn, means that any Google Analytics tags firing after the Optimize container tag has fired will fail to execute<\/strong>. Because the plugin is never loaded, the queue is perpetually waiting for the plugin load to resolve.<\/p>\n You can see this by using the Google Analytics Debugger extension again. In the console, you\u2019ll see something like this:<\/p>\n![\"Tag](\"https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/images\/2019\/09\/still-running-tag.jpg#ZgotmplZ\")
<\/p>\n
\n X<\/span><\/p>\n
\n The Simmer Newsletter<\/strong>\n <\/p>\nWhen is a tag \u201cdone\u201d?<\/h2>\n
script>\n console.log('Hello!'<\/span>);\nscript<\/span>><\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\nHello!<\/code> to the console, it\u2019s ready to move to the next script waiting to be executed, and GTM will thus know that this tag is now \u201cdone\u201d. Preview mode will show that the tag has Succeeded<\/strong>.<\/p>\nscript>\n window<\/span>.setTimeout(function<\/span>() {\n console.log('Hello!'<\/span>);\n }, 5000<\/span>);\nscript<\/span>><\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\nsetTimeout<\/code> expression.<\/p>\n\n
window.google_tag_manager[{{Container ID}}].onHtmlSuccess({{HTML ID}})<\/code> – this is the callback you\u2019d use in Tag Sequencing<\/a> to signal the next tag in the sequence that the current tag has completed successfully. It requires the Container ID<\/code> and HTML ID<\/code> Built-in Variables to be activated.<\/p>\n<\/li>\nwindow.google_tag_manager[{{Container ID}}].onHtmlFailure({{HTML ID}})<\/code> – this is the callback you\u2019d use in Tag Sequencing to signal the next tag in the sequence that the current tag failed in its execution.<\/p>\n<\/li>\ndata.gtmOnSuccess()<\/code> – this is the callback you\u2019d use in custom tag templates<\/a> to signal the tag has completed successfully.<\/p>\n<\/li>\ndata.gtmOnFailure()<\/code> – this is the callback you\u2019d use in custom tag templates to signal the tag has failed in its execution.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nsetTimeout<\/code> call to complete, we\u2019d use it like this:<\/p>\nscript>\n window<\/span>.setTimeout(function<\/span>() {\n console.log('Hello!'<\/span>);\n window<\/span>.google_tag_manager[{{Container ID}}].onHtmlSuccess({{HTML ID}});\n }, 5000<\/span>);\nscript<\/span>><\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\ngoogle_tag_manager[...]<\/code> callbacks in a Custom HTML tag or data<\/code> callbacks in a custom tag template, GTM will actively wait for these callbacks to execute before signalling the tag is done.<\/p>\nscript>\n if<\/span> (false<\/span>) {\n window<\/span>.google_tag_manager[{{Container ID}}].onHtmlSuccess({{HTML ID}});\n }\nscript<\/span>><\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\nif {...}<\/code> block because false<\/code> will never evaluate to true<\/code>. Thus, GTM has detected a success callback written in the code block, and it anxiously waits for it to be executed, but it never will. Thus in GTM\u2019s view, the tag is perpetually running.<\/p>\nonHtmlFailure()<\/code> to achieve the same result. It\u2019s enough for either callback to be present for Google Tag Manager to actively wait for resolution.<\/p>\nif<\/span> (false<\/span>) {\n data.gtmOnSuccess();\n}\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\nhitCallback<\/code><\/a> method is reached. This hitCallback<\/code> is automatically added by Google Tag Manager (preserving any hitCallback<\/code> you add manually to the tag).<\/p>\n![\"hitCallback\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/images\/2019\/09\/ga-hitcallback.jpg#ZgotmplZ\")
<\/p>\nhitCallback<\/code> was never reached.<\/p>\n1. Using an incorrect variable in the Tracking ID field<\/h3>\n
UA-XXXXXX-Y<\/code> string.<\/p>\nUA-XXXXX-Y<\/code> string.<\/p>\n![\"Settings](\"https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/images\/2019\/09\/settings-tracking-id.jpg#ZgotmplZ\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\nhitCallback<\/code> is never reached.<\/p>\n![\"Unknown](\"https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/images\/2019\/09\/unknown-target.jpg#ZgotmplZ\")
<\/p>\nHow to fix this?<\/h4>\n
UA-XXXXXX-Y<\/code>.<\/p>\n2. The
ga()<\/code> method is hijacked by some other code running on the site<\/h3>\nga()<\/code> method, it means that there is no longer such a thing as a \u201cGoogle Analytics hit\u201d, or \u201cGoogle Analytics tracker\u201d, and as a consequence the hitCallback<\/code> is never reached. Google Tag Manager sees<\/strong> the callback in the code and thus waits for it, but because the global method no longer works, the callback is never reached.<\/p>\n![\"GA](\"https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/images\/2019\/09\/ga-method-overwritten.jpg#ZgotmplZ\")
<\/p>\nconsole.log(window<\/span>[window<\/span>['GoogleAnalyticsObject'<\/span>]].answer);\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n42<\/code> written into the console. This is a sign that the analytics.js library still works with the global method.<\/p>\nundefined<\/code> or an error, it would mean that there\u2019s something wrong with the global method.<\/p>\nhitCallback<\/code> would still be reached, and if the entire analytics.js<\/strong> library is blocked, the ga()<\/code> command would never be invoked in the first place.<\/p>\nHow to fix this?<\/h4>\n
my_ga<\/code> in your Google Analytics tags (in GTM) by expanding Advanced Configuration<\/strong> and updating the Global Function Name<\/strong> field. This must be done consistently in all your tags<\/strong>, so you might want to use a Google Analytics Settings variable<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Global](\"https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/images\/2019\/09\/global-function-name.jpg#ZgotmplZ\")
<\/p>\n3. Nonexistent Optimize container loaded on the site<\/h3>\n
ga()<\/code> queue is halted.<\/p>\n
![\"Waiting](\"https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/images\/2019\/09\/waiting-optimize.jpg#ZgotmplZ\")
<\/p>\n