Google Ads’ GTM Container is changing from April 10: Are You Ready?

Key Takeaways

> Are You using Google Tag Manager in Your Google Ads?

> Well, from April 10th onwards, Google is changing them and it is mandatory.

> Read this LinkedIn Newsletter to know everything about the Google Ads Update .

Table of Contents

1. A few facts about Google Tag Manager
2. What is Google Tag Manager?

⤷How can Google Tag Manager be used? 

3. What are Google Ads GTM Containers?
4. Google Tag Manager Changes: Now vs. April 10, 2025 Onwards

⤷Google Tag Manager Now

⤷Google Tag Manager Changes: April 10th Onwards

5. How to prepare your Google Ads for the Google Tag Manager changes?
6. Google Tag Manager Changes: Common Transition Challenges
7. Google Tag Manager: The Future Trends
8. Conclusion
9. FAQs

The digital advertising world is about to experience something new starting April 10, 2025.

Google is changing how advertisers used to add Google Tag Manager, or GTM, in Google Ads.

Google Tag Manager changes will make Google Ads better in terms of better conversions, tracking, data collection, and auto-events.

If you are a business owner, a marketing manager, an advertiser, or a tech enthusiast, this LinkedIn newsletter will help you prepare your Google Ads accordingly.

A few facts about Google Tag Manager

• More than 15% of the brands do not have a defined Google Tag Manager or GTM strategy.

• 93% GTM teams use AI in some way or other.

• 65% of the Google Tag Manager leaders are satisfied with the automation tools used in their GTM implementations.

• Roughly 64.6 million websites are using Google Tag Manager in March 2025.

• Google Tag Manager is most used in the USA, followed by the UK and Brazil.

Key Updates

• Google Tags will be fired before events.
• It will boost Enhanced Conversions, Autoevents and Cross-domain tracking.
• Floodlight and Google Ads will not be governed.
• User Provided Data collection will happen automatically, if Customer Data Terms of Service are accepted.

What is Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager, or GTM, is a web-based tool by Google that allows businesses to add, track, and manage tags or tracking codes on websites, apps, and Google Ads.

It uses advanced tools like GA4 or Google Analytics 4, Preview & Debug Mode, Google Tag Assistant Companion, and more.

Fig 1: A graphical representation of Google Tag Manager usage in marketing and analytics.

How can Google Tag Manager be used?

It can be used for,

User Activity Tracking

To find out how users interact with a website, pages they scroll, videos they watch, and their bounce rate, GTM can be used.

Addition of Tracking Codes

Google Tag Manager can be used to add tracking codes or tags without changing the website’s and app’s internal coding.

Google Ads Conversion Tags’ Deployment

To get the best insights into your Google Ads’ performance, Google Tags are used.

Optimize & Troubleshoot

GTM can also be used to troubleshoot and optimize Google tags.

Now that you know what GTM is and how it is used, it is time to dive deeper.

What are Google Ads GTM Containers?

GTM containers are the specific locations where tags or tracking codes are added in Google Ads.

They are scheduled to be triggered when a Google Ad is opened and clicked upon to jot down important variables that help marketers in optimizing the Google Ads.

Google Ads GTM Containers help with,

• Centralized management of all the tags on a Google Ad.

• Easier deployment as well as updates of Google tags.

• Collaboration across multiple users by allowing them to work on the same GTM container.

Thus, Google Ads benefit a lot from GTM containers.

Google Tag Manager Changes: Now vs. April 10, 2025 Onwards

It is time to discuss and understand how Google Ads GTM is working right now vs. how it will work starting April 10th, 2025.

Google Tag Manager Now

You can have separate tags for different Google products that facilitated distinguished tracking in Google Tag Manager.

• Google Ads and floodlight tags firing events happened independently, causing data discrepancies.

• Enhanced Conversions, Autoevents, and Cross-Domain Tracking needed additional configurations.

• Without automated User-provided Data collection, data privacy was always a concern.

This made work easier for the advertiser, but it was hampering perfect tracking of key figures related to Google Ads like conversions, data collection, and user insights.

Plus, the advertising and marketing world was lamenting about fewer conversions and higher budgets in Google Ads, so Google was bringing AI-powered optimization to Google Ads.

Google Tag Manager Changes: April 10th Onwards

Google tags will be changing how they function in Google Ads starting 10th April to ensure they load before sending any events to boost tracking and data collection.

Below are the key Google Tag Manager Changes,

• Google tags will be loading first before firing events for GTM containers with Google Ads & Floodlight tags.

• Google Tag settings will now allow Enhanced Conversions, Autoevents and Cross-domain tracking, boosting first-party data capture & cross-device attribution for better customer journeys.

• The User Provided Data collection will be enabled automatically if the Customer Data Terms of Service are accepted, and it will lead to privacy-friendly tracking compliant with CCPA and GDPR.

• Floodlight and Google Ads tags firing will now be governed, which will lead to fewer data mismatches.

• Improved accuracy of measurement and attribution via Google Tag Manager changes to facilitate smarter budget allocation & bidding.

• Better campaign optimization via easily accessible cross-domain tracking and enhanced conversions.

In short, the Google Tag Manager changes are substantial and can positively impact Google Ads’ results via proper implementation.

How to prepare your Google Ads for the Google Tag Manager changes?

It is advisable to prepare beforehand and take advantage of the aforementioned Google Tag Manager changes, and here’s how you can do it.

Fig 2: A graphical representation of the step-by-step guide to upgrade to the new GTM containers in Google Ads.

Step 1

Make sure that the GTM container in your Google Ads has a Google tag.

Step 2

Preview these changes in your Google Campaign Manager and Google Tag Manager accounts to test their results.

Step 3

Check whether the conversion tracking and GTM analytics are showing proper results without any discrepancies to optimize your monitoring strategies accordingly.

Step 4

Don’t shy away from reaching out to your Google campaign account manager and Google Support for any assistance with the Google Tag Manager changes.

Remember that if you do not add a tag to your GTM container, then Google will do that automatically on April 10.

Google Tag Manager Changes: Common Transition Challenges

If you are wondering about the challenges that might be faced during this transition, we have compiled a list of things that you might encounter.

Data Discrepancies

You can face data discrepancies between the older and the new way of using GTM, along with variations in triggering frequencies and even inconsistent audience size.

Integration Failures

Some companies and marketers use complex integrations between GTM & other systems, and they might face issues like broken connections, failed data transfer, and malfunctioning of custom event listeners.

Performance Issues

There might be temporary performance issues such as longer page load times, tag firing delays, blocked renderings, and scripting conflicts.

Consent Management

Consent management can face issues related to misalignment between various consent categories, multiple consent prompts, and compliance gaps.

Skill Constraints

Even your Google Tag Manager, advertisers, and involved personnel can feel that they lack the skill required to understand and test the new changes.

But all this can be handled efficiently with a little patience and a reliable Google Ads expert team by your side.

Google Tag Manager: The Future Trends

Now that we have covered Google Tag Manager in detail, let us also talk about the future trends in Google’s evolving measurement and analytics.

Fig 3: A graphical representation of the future trends in Google Tag Manager.

Privacy-centric

Google is moving towards a privacy-centric approach as the world moves towards first-party data collection.

Via,

• Boosted Consent Management

• Privacy Sandbox

• Anonymization

• First-party Data Emphasis

AI-powered Analytics

Google AI is helping make data and marketing analytics better and quicker via

• Predictive Modeling

• Anomaly Detection

• Natural Language Interface

Server-side Dominance

Since the internet is shifting to cloud computing, Google highlights the significance of server-side dominance via

• Expanded Server Capabilities

• Edge Computing Integration

• Hybrid Architectures

With these trends in use, your Google Tag Manager can deliver the best results.

Conclusion

You have roughly a month to test the best possible configurations of Google Ads via the changed GTM, so make use of it.

Because it can drastically uplift the conversion capabilities of your Google Ads.

If you prolong testing and previewing it, you risk decreasing their full impact and losing the race of delivering the best Google Ads to the competition.

Wildnet Technologies is a world-recognized Digital Marketing company that has been helping its clients with a 360-degree digital marketing experience via apt creation and proper optimization of the marketing campaigns using Google Tag Manager, GA4, and more.

If you would like to know more,

> Google Tag Manager vs Google Analytics

> Leveraging AI for Enhanced Digital Marketing Campaigns | Case Study

> Wildnet’s Digital Glossary

Connect with us at info@wildnettechnologies.com and update your GTM before April.

FAQs

FAQ 1: What exactly is changing with Google Ads GTM containers on April 10th, 2025?

Ans: Google will begin automatically migrating Google Tag Manager (GTM) containers for Google Ads to the latest Google tag architecture.

No more separate tags to streamline the GTM results and better tracking of conversions.

FAQ 2: How will the automatic migration affect my existing tracking and reporting?

Ans: If you haven’t implemented the GTM properly, the existing tracking & reporting could be impacted.

While Google is trying to minimize any disruptions, no one can be sure, and only time will tell the exact impacts.

FAQ 3: Can I opt out of this migration or delay?

Ans: No, it is mandatory for all Google Ads GTM containers’ users.

But there is an option to manually migrate before the April 10th deadline so that the resultant changes can be previewed and tested.

FAQ 4: What are the main benefits of the new Google Tag settings?

Ans: The key benefits of the Google Tag Manager changes are,

• Improved performance

• Enhanced privacy

• Simplified cross-domain tracking

• Better server-die tagging

• More consistency in data collection across Google

FAQ 5: How can Wildnet help with Google Ads GTM container changes?

Ans: Our digital marketing experts are accustomed to GTM usage across Google Ads and websites for more than 19 years.

Thus, they can help you with easy understanding, planning, and implementation of the Google Tag Manager changes.

This way you can beat your competitors by being the first in the industry to start leveraging the benefits of the said GTM changes.