New Shopify and Google App Tracking Setup - FAQ For People in a Hurry

Shopify is updating its checkout tracking, requiring merchants to migrate from GTM to the Google & YouTube app. Learn deadlines, impacts, and how to avoid data loss.

Ricardo Cristofolini

Senior Implementation Specialist, Data Solutions

I’m passionate about what I do. If you meet my manager or co-workers, they would say I’m a team player, engaged and always excited to learn something new. Like everyone else I have some flaws. However I’m not afraid to work around those to bring the best in myself and for the company

What is Shopify doing?

Shopify is updating their Thank You and Order Status pages, and additional scripts for tracking and analytics, and page customizations aren’t supported in this new update.

When will this happen?

Shopify Plus merchants have until August 28, 2025, to make the proper changes

Non-plus merchants have until August 26, 2026, to make the proper changes.

Wait, what changes and how do I do it??

Shopify now requires you to migrate your tagging to the Google & YouTube app before upgrading your Shopify “Thank you” & “Order Status” pages. Here is Shopify’s documentation on how to upgrade. Not on Shopify Plus? We got you covered. Here is Shopify’s documentation for non-plus members.

You will need to ensure you set up your tracking via the new Google & YouTube App and other relevant apps like Meta or TikTok.

What will happen if I don’t do it?

If you don’t migrate your Google tags by those deadlines, you will experience a complete loss of conversion data on your “Thank You” and “Order Status” pages. This will severely impact your customer reach and the effectiveness of your campaign & bidding strategies.

I have a custom pixel that implements my GTM. Can I still use it?

Using a custom pixel to implement Google tags on Shopify is not recommended by Google and comes with serious limitations in data accuracy and feature support. The main reason for this is that pixels run in a sandboxed environment, restricting access to key browser features.

What about the rest of the site? Can I still use the custom Pixel to deploy GTM?

As per Shopify’s documentation, the update will only happen in the checkout pages (Thank You and Order Status). There is no mention of deprecation or anything outside of this. With that being said, if you have GTM implemented through your theme.liquid file, outside of your checkout process, you should still be able to track custom events.

Do I really have to migrate the Google Analytics setup?

If you want to continue collecting reliable conversion data in Google Analytics, you should migrate your tagging setup to the Google & YouTube app in the Shopify App Store instead of relying on GTM. Google recommends using the Google & YouTube app, which is designed to work with Shopify’s current platform, including a new one-page checkout and post-purchase experience.

What events can I expect to be collected with this migration?

At this moment, the app only supports a predefined set of events:

view_item
add_to_cart
begin_checkout
add_payment_info
purchase

With the Google & YouTube App alone, you cannot create or track any custom events.

What else does it support?

Basic Google Ads conversion tracking
Basic Google Analytics deployment with built-in events
Enhanced conversion for web (with hashed customer data)
Connection to Merchant Center and YouTube channel
Tagging that adapts to Shopify’s checkout restrictions
Shopify consent mode

What will happen with my data layer?

The data layer won’t be affected directly, but its use will. Without a tag manager on those pages anymore, the data layer will not be used by them, and anything configured with it won’t be passed to GA.

What will happen with my 3rd-party tags?

If there isn’t an app that meets your needs, then you can create a custom pixel. Anything that is being deployed through GTM will have to be replaced by customizations using pixels in the Additional Scripts section. However, Shopify warns that users may expect a sharp drop in their event tracking. This is because app pixels and custom pixels only track customer behaviour with consent, whereas consent is often not set up properly in additional scripts or checkout.liquid code.

What are the downsides of using the Google & YouTube App

⚠️ Downsides of Using the Google & YouTube App in Shopify

1. Limited to Core Events - Shopify Documentation

The app only supports a predefined set of events:

Event name	Event description
`page_view`	A customer visited a page on your online store.
`search`	A customer searched for a product on your online store.
`view_item`	A customer viewed a product on your online store.
`add_to_cart`	A customer added a product to the cart.
`begin_checkout`	A customer started the checkout process.
`add_payment_info`	A customer successfully entered payment information.
`purchase`	A customer completed their checkout.

Creating custom events like newsletter signups, video views, or scroll tracking has become more complex when using just GTM. While it’s still possible, you now need to use gtag() calls directly in your theme templates. In other words, the app no longer gives you the same level of control that GTM once did; you'll need to handle much of it manually.

Furthermore, GA4 allows you to create an event over an existing event so you can measure what you want without changing the original event. That allows you to have a second fire event based on the content of an existing one in specific cases. For example, if you have a base URL that loads every time a store locator feature is used, you could have a store_locator_search event that gets added whenever a page_view event happens with a matching URL. This may not be a replacement for GTM, but it may be helpful in some situations.

NOTE: Modifying an event will overwrite the original, so proceed carefully.

2. No Support for Custom Parameters or Dimensions

You can't add custom event parameters, such as promo IDs, additional product metadata, or user-level attributes. The app will also only automatically set a single category parameter (item_category), rather than the optional category hierarchy.

Using the app alone, you're limited to the default data that Shopify passes, meaning you lose flexibility in segmenting audiences or building more detailed remarketing strategies.

3. No GTM Support

Google Tag Manager cannot be used on Shopify checkout or post-checkout pages anymore.

This removes your ability to easily deploy third-party tools, custom scripts, or advanced logic like A/B testing, fraud detection, or content personalization through Google Tag Manager. At this moment, in checkout contexts you need to depend on the Shopify App Store, if a specific app is available for your third-party tool, or custom code if the feature you're looking to deploy will function in the new environment.

4. No Preview or Debug Tools

There is no GTM preview mode, no Tag Assistant, and limited diagnostics. Troubleshooting issues with your tags is harder and less transparent, compared to using GTM. You can use Shopify Pixel Helper to verify manually-implemented pixels.

5. Limited Customization of Consent Mode

While Consent Mode is supported in theory, the app doesn’t give you granular control over how consent is collected or passed, unlike a full CMP or custom implementation. Instead, you’ll need to rely on the Shopify apps used for consent management platforms and media or analytics platforms communicating with Shopify’s Customer Privacy API to correctly set and respect customer choices.

6. Not Ideal for Multi-Store or Complex Setups

If you operate multiple storefronts or use headless setups, the app’s out-of-the-box configuration may not be sufficient or flexible.

Okay, how do I migrate then?

Glad that you asked. You can check our step-by-step guide here.

✅ How to Set Up Conversion Tracking with Enhanced Conversions in Shopify

1. Open the Google & YouTube App in Shopify

Go to your Shopify admin.
Click Apps in the sidebar, then open Google & YouTube.

2. Link or Customize Conversion Actions

Click the pencil icon ✏️ next to the event you want to edit.
Choose one of the following:
- Link to an existing Google Ads conversion action
- Create a new one directly from the app
- Opt out of tracking that event by selecting “Don’t measure”

💡 Tip: For each event, confirm the correct destination (Google Ads or Floodlight).

3. Enable Enhanced Conversions

Still under Settings, go to Google Ads settings.
Look for Enhanced conversions and click to enable.
You’ll be prompted to agree to Google’s enhanced conversions data terms.

Enhanced conversions improve accuracy by sending hashed customer data (e.g., email, phone) securely to Google—boosting attribution and bidding performance. Be sure to review Google's documentation and customer data policies before accepting the terms and implementing it, to ensure that its use aligns with your store's privacy policy.

4. Clean Up Old Tags (Most Important - to avoid event duplication or any debugging)

If you previously used hard-coded or GTM-based tags in Shopify (like in checkout.liquid template or via custom pixels), remove them to avoid double tracking.

5. Verify Your Setup

In Google Ads, confirm that the correct conversion actions are receiving data.
In Shopify’s Google & YouTube app, your chosen events should show as “Active” or “Linked.”

Napkyn POV: Don't Wait, Shopify Checkout Tracking Changes Require Immediate Action

Shopify is making critical updates to its checkout experience, and Shopify Plus merchants must act before August 2025 to avoid a complete loss of post-purchase tracking. Google Tag Manager and any tags deployed using GTM, as well as custom scripts deployed using Liquid templates, will no longer function on Thank You and Order Status pages. To maintain conversion tracking and campaign performance, Shopify now requires merchants to use the Google & YouTube App for Google tag deployment.

Following Google’s and Shopify’s recommendations, we suggest upgrading now in order to ensure proper deployment and an abundance of time to test the new implementation, as waiting until the last minute risks disrupting your measurement and media performance. While we recognize that the new app has significant limitations (like no support for GTM, custom events, or enhanced parameter tracking), allowing for ample time to plan, test and fix issues will only improve tracking.

We’re actively testing workarounds and advanced setups to help brands overcome these constraints. In our next update, we’ll share strategies for customizing measurement within Shopify’s new architecture. In the meantime, plan your migration to maintain continuity in data and media optimization.

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