GTM Google Tag Manager: Set "page" in Virtual Page View Issue

Question

How to track a virtual page view with GTM. Dozens of tutorials, checked them all and tried from scratch a couple of times. Issue: Page Path (aka "page") value in GA not set to what I defined in GTM.

Explanation: The page I want to track is technically one page (form.php), featuring a multi-step form. So, several html forms after each other. The end goal is that on the (successful) submit of each form a virtual pageview will be triggered. As the mechanic is based on jQuery, I plan to use a data layer push event as the trigger. Step by step:

Defined a DataLayer variable in GTM for the page path called formID and prior to the event (used as trigger) set the value, formatted as a relative path:

dataLayer.push({ 'formID':'/form-start' });
Set an event with the name formSubmit as the trigger and trigger it with:

dataLayer.push({'event': 'formSubmit'});
In the tracking ID variable as well as in the tag itself, I set the Field Name page to the data layer variable where the value of formID is stored

Testing in the console, both in the preview as well as in the published container, even after refresh, deleting cookies and much more, I get the following results:

In the DataLayer tab in the preview, I can see:

event: 'formSubmit',
formID: '/form-start'

In the Variables tab in the preview, I can see the tag fired, and for the Google Analytics settings and the Tracking ID:

fieldsToSet: [
    {fieldName: 'anonymizeIp', value: 'true'},
    {fieldName: 'page', value: '/form-start'},
    ...

However, in the Variables tab as well as in Google Analytics, Page Path is still '/form.php'.

Please, can anybody give me a hint what I am missing here? Any help very much appreciated.

Edit: Screenshots attachements

tag setup (hint: I added dp as a test, as I read in one forum to try the measurement protocol parameters)

trigger configuration

DataLayer variables when testing

Are you able to provide a screenshot of how your tag is set up? — vinoaj
This looks pretty correct to me. Is formID set at the same time or before the formSubmit event fires? If the answer is no, then there is your problem. — vinoaj
@vinoaj found the issue - cannot explain but it seems I was not supposed to fill the Tracking ID field in the override settings as well. When I left it blank it worked. Thank you for your help though! — Chris

Дмитро Булах Дмитро Булах · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-14T09:14:44

The value of Page Path displayed in the Variables Tab will be the value of window.location.pathname regardless of your pushes to dataLayer. What you should check is that Goole analytics receives and tracks the desired value for page. To do that you may 1) check the value of dp parameter in the request to www.google-analytics.com/collect or 2) check the parameters of Analytics tag with Tag Assistant Extension or 3) check the 'Top Active Pages' in the Google Analytics Real Time Report.

GTM Google Tag Manager: Set "page" in Virtual Page View Issue

2 Answers