Tracking codes are one of the staples of modern digital marketing and analysis. They are used to help track events that take place within apps and websites in order to provide insights and statistics on user behavior and engagement. One of the most popular tracking code types is Google Analytics, a tool that provides powerful analytics services to help you better understand your userbase. But one thing many people don’t know is when do these tracking codes actually send an event hit to Google Analytics?
The answer to this question depends a lot on the type of tracking code being used. The majority of tracking codes rely on client-side JavaScript to track events. This means that the tracking code must be activated by the user in order for it to send an event hit to Google Analytics. When a user triggers a trackable event, the tracking code's associated JavaScript code is executed, sending a request to Google Analytics with information about what type of event it is and what user performed it.
But this doesn't mean that all tracking codes rely on user interaction. For example, server-side tracking codes are designed to capture events on the server, even if the user doesn’t actually do anything. This means that the tracking code can send an event hit to Google Analytics even if the user doesn’t actively take any action.
Additionally, asynchronous tracking codes will send an event hit to Google Analytics as soon as it is requested by the user. This type of tracking code is different from the client-side and server-side tracking codes because the tracking code will immediately send an event hit to Google Analytics without needing the user to trigger the event. This can be helpful when trying to capture events that may be too fast for the user to notice in order to measure site speed or latency.
Google Analytics also has a feature called event tracking which allows you to manually set up tracking for specific events. This means that you can set up an event hit to be sent to Google Analytics whenever a certain action is performed even if the user didn’t directly trigger or interact with any tracking code.
Finally, there is one more type of tracking code called ‘non-interaction’ tracking codes. These are designed to capture events on the server so that you can track how many people reached a certain page or watched a specific video. The non-interaction tracking code will send an event hit to Google Analytics even if the user didn’t perform any action, so you can get insights into how many people are viewing certain pages or videos.
In conclusion, when a tracking code sends an event hit to Google Analytics all depends on the type of tracking code, what type of event it is, if the event requires user interaction, and if manual event tracking has been set up. So when using tracking codes, it’s important to understand when and how these events are being sent to Google Analytics in order to get the most accurate and useful insights about your userbase.