You can control your website’s tagging capabilities based on the specific container ID prefix you choose to install. While Google provides a single, unified Google tag snippet, you can manage your website’s data collection and functionality based on the container ID prefix you deploy.
Understand the container ID
When you add the Google tag to your website, it uses an identifier to request the correct configuration from Google’s servers. This identifier contains an alphabetic prefix and an alphanumeric suffix. The prefix specifies the functionality that the container can execute. By configuring the prefix of your ID, you can decide whether your tag is allowed to execute custom third-party scripts or if it should be restricted to sending data strictly to Google services.
When your container ID starts with GTM-
If your container ID begins with GTM- (for example, GTM-ABCDEFG), it indicates that your container allows all tag types. This means that it can load and execute all features and a wide range of scripts, including:
- Third-party scripts
- Custom HTML and JavaScript tags you’ve configured
- Data transmission to Google services
This mode provides the most flexibility for managing various marketing and analytics tags on your website.
When your container ID starts with other prefixes
If your container ID starts with product-specific prefixes like G- or AW-, your container is limited to Google tags.
In this case, the tag can send data exclusively to Google services. It prevents loading or executing other tag types, offering a more controlled, secure environment focused purely on Google measurement and advertising.
Change your tag’s loading behavior
To change your tag’s loading behavior, you can update the container ID used on your website. For example, if you use a G- ID but need to execute all tag types , switch to a GTM- ID. Use the GTM- ID provided for that same container.
To find your container IDs:
- Sign in to your Google Tag Manager account.
- Go to Admin.
- Under “Container”, select Install Google Tag Manager.
- In the code snippets, you’ll see the IDs associated with that container.
You can then replace the existing container ID in the tagging snippet on your website with that GTM- ID.