I'm getting so frustrated with this damn Module.
After suffering a 5 month Google Analytics outage due to the Consent Mode bug, I discovered that most tags in Google Tag Manager have not been firing since we installed 2.0.5 to resolve the earlier outage.
It looks like all variables are wiped out when a GTAG command is sent to the datalayer. The command involves the allowlist and blocklist.
Because the variables are all undefined (and never recover), Tags can't operate.
I spent about 8 months in 2024 trying to resolve Google Analytics problems as a result of the Google Tag Module. This is ridiculous, and Acquia and Google are absent, clueless supporters.
USER WARNING: THIS PAGE IS FILLED WITH FALSE INFORMATION.
The Module creators used the wrong code in their solution. Google is a supporter of this Module, and Google doesn't even understand what it's talking about. Those Google dolts didn't make it clear there are two ways to initialize consent mode:
You can use the GTAG method that this Module incorrectly implemented, or you can use Google Tag Manager, as spelled out in their own documentation.
Google's own documentation states: Take the following into consideration before implementing consent mode:
Take the following into consideration before implementing consent mode:
If you use Tag Manager and want to maintain your own banner, the recommended approach is loading your banner through the Tag Manager container. To do so, you need to create a consent mode template. Alternatively, you can use a consent mode template from the Community Template Gallery.
If you use gtag.js, make sure you have installed the Google tag on every page of your website. The consent mode code gets added to each page of your website.
Google is completely clueless about their own products if they gave the advice above. In fact, they even f@cked up the code example shown above. If you don't believe me...Google it.
And Google's advice to be compliant with GDPR made me laugh so hard that I had tears rolling down my face. That's like a group of drunk drivers being assigned to rewrite DUI laws. It's like assigning the wolves to protect the sheep. Does anyone else get the irony?
Consent Mode does NOT need the help of the Google Tag Module to work. In fact, it does quite well without it.
The Module should add a single line of code that goes directly above the Google Tag Manager code insertion:
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];This code can be added regardless if Consent Mode is used or not. Apply it to all users. It establishes the dataLayer. It does no harm. There's no need for a Consent Setting in the Google Tag Module.
That's it....this is all I can take in one night...
Oh my god....why in the f@ck is a Google Tag module involved in discount calculations and adjustments?
This issue has nothing to do with the placement of the Google Tag Manager script. Is the goal create a version of Quickbooks?
This is a prime example of mission creep. Over time, functionality is built up to please users, but that functionality comes with a lifetime service commitment, and that's usually not clear at in the beginning.
The user is probably delighted they got some free engineering resources to help with a personal problem.
Meanwhile, the Module doesn't work correctly....
I know this particular issue was closed many years ago, but I just saw a note on the latest 2.0.0 release that notes that Search Console verification was failing..but I can't find an open issue.
Let me say this in case others find this like I did: it's not the job of a Tag Module to do Search Console-related work.
The GTM verification method provided by Google is flawed....this is a Google screwup....one that's been going on for years.
Fortunately, Google provides other options to get verified. I had success with the DNS record method. It's a ridiculous requirement because, in a larger company, DNS records are highly sensitive and cannot be easily adjusted without lots of approvals. But I did it.
Google is a co-sponsor of this Module, and they need to get off their asses and fix this.
At my place, the users are the maintainers of the site, and not the intended consumers.
It would be padding the audience size to include their activity. Eliminating those pages helps in that regard.
At least that's the angle i'm coming from.
Is anyone aware of the devastation this Module is causing to companies?
*I'm here because our company experienced a five month loss of Google Analytics in 2024 due to a bug in 2.0.4 that activated Consent Mode without our knowledge or authorization.
*It took a long time to resolve because we had no idea that a Drupal Module had the capability to interfere with Google Analytics and override GA4 administrative settings without login credentials. We had no idea that someone could be so disconnected from reality that they would think this was a good idea.
*We got Google Analytics back, but it cost five figures. And even more tragically, it looks like we traded one problem for another when we installed 2.0.5 to fix the previous outage: most of our GTM tags stopped working that day, and haven't working in the four months since.
*Nobody here seems to have figured out that Google isn't doing this for altruistic reasons. They didn't create Consent Mode to help you stay compliant with the law: They created Consent Mode to shift privacy liability away themselves and to their customers. The recorded Consent choices reside with them, not you.
A GTM Module should only have two purposes: one to accept the GTM id, and another to enable the initialization of default consent. Everything else is a distraction that draws away development and QA talent from the areas that need it.
It has no damn business doing anything else.
@philltran @zilloww Caution, some of these things don't look right.
1. I'm certain that Default Consent should not go before the Consent Initialization event in GTM. The Consent Initialization action is designed to be the very first thing that fires on a page, and it typically fires off the cookie consent banner, or establishes Default Consent settings. I know you're not firing anything from that action, but industry practice is to have Consent Initialization as #1. This way, you're safe if Google changes something assuming everyone has Consent Init first.
Links with useful nuggets and screenshots of how GTM consent mode in Preview Mode should look:
https://www.simoahava.com/analytics/consent-settings-google-tag-manager/
https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/tag-manager/templates/api#set...
2. Caution with the GTAG js command that you're using I: know we got it form Google's documentation, but I can't see the context of your function, but there should be a line above it
// Define dataLayer and the gtag function. window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} // Set default consent to 'denied' as a placeholder // Determine actual values based on your own requirements gtag('consent', 'default', { 'ad_storage': 'denied', 'ad_user_data': 'denied', 'ad_personalization': 'denied', 'analytics_storage': 'denied' });more later.....