Google Tag Manager
On this page
To use Google Tag Manager (GTM) for sending click and conversion events to the Algolia Insights API, you need to add data attributes to your website’s templates and configure the Algolia Insights template in the GTM dashboard.
Update your search parameters
To connect events to searches, including those from category pages, you must pass queryID
when sending search-related events to the Insights API, such as with the clickedObjectIDsAfterSearch
method.
To include the queryID
in the search response, set clickAnalytics
to true
.
To identify users, add the userToken
parameter.
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index.search('YourSearchQuery', {
userToken: 'user-1',
clickAnalytics: true
}).then(({ hits, queryID }) => {
console.log(hits, queryID);
})
Update your HTML
Add the following data attributes to your template for Algolia search results within your HTML:
data-insights-index
. Select a parent DOM element that contains both your filters and hits UI elements to capture events related to both.data-insights-object-id
. The unique object identifier for the Algolia hit.data-insights-position
. The position in the search results, starting with 1 and taking paginated search results into account.data-insights-query-id
. A unique identifier for relating the search query and event.
For more information, see the Insights API reference.
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const indexName = <YourIndexName>;
index.search('query', {
userToken: 'user-1',
clickAnalytics: true
}).then(({ hits, queryID, page, hitsPerPage }) => {
const container = document.querySelector('<YourSelector>');
container.innerHTML = `
<div data-insights-index="${indexName}">
<div id="hits">
${
hits.map((hit, arrayIndex) => `
<div class="hit"
data-insights-object-id="${hit.objectID}"
data-insights-position="${arrayIndex + 1 + page * hitsPerPage}"
data-insights-query-id="${queryID}"
>
<!-- ... -->
</div>
`).join('')
}
</div>
</div>
`
});
To track filter events, add a data-insights-filter
attribute to each filter element (format: ${attribute}:${value}
):
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<ul>
<li data-insights-filter="brand:Apple">Apple</li>
<li data-insights-filter="brand:HP">HP</li>
<li>...</li>
</ul>
Send the user token to Google Tag Manager
Send the appropriate user token to GTM when the user’s browser session changes:
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window.dataLayer.push({
algoliaUserToken: 'user-1',
});
If you’re using the search-insights
library,
use its onUserTokenChange
method to sync the user token with GTM:
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aa('onUserTokenChange', (userToken) => {
window.dataLayer.push({
algoliaUserToken: userToken,
});
}, { immediate: true });
The onUserTokenChange
method is supported in search-insights
versions 1.5.0 or later.
Send view events
GTM doesn’t know when users see new search results, as these are rendered client-side on the users’ devices. To inform GTM, you need to manually push view events to the data layer.
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index.search('query', { /* ... */ }).then(({ hits, queryID }) => {
const container = document.querySelector('<your-selector>');
container.innerHTML = `...`
+ dataLayer.push({ event: 'Hits Viewed' });
});
You can use the Insights option with InstantSearch.js, Vue InstantSearch, or React InstantSearch.
Add the Algolia Search Insights template
Before sending events to the Insights API, add the Algolia Search Insights template to your workspace.
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Sign in to your GTM workspace and go to Tag Templates > Search Gallery.
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Search for the Algolia Search Insights template (by Algolia).
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Click Add to workspace and confirm by clicking Add.
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On the Tag Templates page, you should now see the Algolia Search Insights template:
Add variables
Variables are named placeholders for values that are populated when code is run on your website or app.
Built-in variables
First, add the built-in variable Click Element. This variable is associated with the data from your click events.
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In the Variables section of your GTM workspace, click Configure.
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In the Configure Built-In Variables dialog, select Click Element.
Algolia Insights User Token
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In the Variables section of your GTM workspace, go to the User-Defined Variables section and click New.
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Select Data Layer Variable.
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Enter
Algolia Insights User Token
as the variable name andalgoliaUserToken
as the data layer variable name.
Algolia Get Data Attributes
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In the Variables section of your GTM workspace, go to the User-Defined Variables section and click New.
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Select Custom JavaScript.
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Enter
Algolia Get Data Attributes
as variable name and add the following JavaScript code:Copy1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
function() { function findClosest(target, selector) { while (!target.matches(selector) && !target.matches('body')) { target = target.parentElement; } return target.matches(selector) ? target : undefined; } return function (attributeName, containerQuerySelector) { var clickedElement = {{Click Element}}; // Search for the selector's children var elements = clickedElement ? [findClosest(clickedElement, '[' + attributeName +']')] : Array.from(document.querySelectorAll((containerQuerySelector || '') + ' [' + attributeName + ']')).filter(Boolean); // See if it matches the container itself. // For example, `#app[data-insights-index]` if (elements.length === 0 && containerQuerySelector) { elements = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(containerQuerySelector + '[' + attributeName + ']')).filter(Boolean); } var attributes = elements.map(function (element) { return element.getAttribute(attributeName); }); return attributes; } }
Algolia Insights index
- Add a new user-defined variable.
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Enter
Algolia Insights Index
as variable name and add the following JavaScript code:Copy1 2 3
function() { return {{Algolia Get Data Attributes}}('data-insights-index')[0]; }
When searching multiple indices, you must specify which index to track.
Add an optional query selector with the data-insights-index
attribute.
For example, if you have the following HTML:
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<div id="index-1" data-insights-index="YourIndexName">
<div id="hits">
<!-- ... -->
</div>
</div>
<div id="index-2">
<div id="hits">
<!-- ... -->
</div>
</div>
Select the div
element with the id index-1
for tracking events:
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function() {
return {{Algolia Get Data Attributes}}('data-insights-index', '#index-1')[0];
}
Algolia Insights ObjectIDs
- Add a new user-defined variable.
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Enter
Algolia Insights ObjectIDs
as variable name and add the following JavaScript code:Copy1 2 3
function() { return {{Algolia Get Data Attributes}}('data-insights-object-id'); }
When searching multiple indices, you must specify which index to track.
Algolia Insights Positions
- Add a new user-defined variable.
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Enter
Algolia Insights Positions
as variable name and add the following JavaScript code:Copy1 2 3
function() { return {{Algolia Get Data Attributes}}('data-insights-position'); }
When searching multiple indices, you must specify which index to track.
Algolia Insights QueryID
- Add a new user-defined variable.
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Enter
Algolia Insights QueryID
as the variable name and add the following JavaScript code:Copy1 2 3
function() { return {{Algolia Get Data Attributes}}('data-insights-query-id')[0]; }
When searching multiple indices, you must specify which index to track.
Algolia Insights Viewed Filters
- Add a new user-defined variable.
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Enter
Algolia Insights Viewed Filters
as the variable name and add the following JavaScript code:Copy1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
function() { var attributeName = 'data-insights-filter'; var elements = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('[' + attributeName + ']')); var attributes = elements.map(function (element) { return element.getAttribute(attributeName); }); return attributes; }
Algolia Insights Clicked Filters
- Add a new user-defined variable.
-
Enter
Algolia Insights Clicked Filters
as variable name and add the following JavaScript code:Copy1 2 3
function() { return {{Algolia Get Data Attributes}}('data-insights-filter') }
When searching multiple indices, you must specify which index to track.
Add custom triggers
Triggers listen to selected types of events on your website or app and tell the tags to fire, when a specified event is detected.
Add a trigger for view events
To capture the view events you send from your website you must add a custom trigger.
Select the following values for the corresponding fields:
- Trigger name:
Hits Viewed
- Trigger type:
Custom Event
- Event name:
Hits Viewed
Customize triggers for click events
Click or conversion events come from user actions, such as clicks on DOM elements.
Consider this template:
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<div data-insights-index="<your-index-name>">
<div id="hits">
<article
class="hit"
data-insights-object-id="{{objectID}}"
data-insights-position="{{__position}}"
data-insights-query-id="{{__queryID}}"
>
<h1>{{name}}</h1>
<p>{{description}}</p>
<button class="btn-view-details" type="button">
View Details
</button>
</article>
<!-- ... -->
</div>
</div>
To configure a click on the View Details button as a trigger in GTM, select Click - All Elements
as the trigger type
and configure the trigger to fire only when the click text matches View Details.
You can also configure the trigger to fire when the click target matches a CSS selector:
Customize triggers for filters
To track clicked filters, create a trigger that matches the CSS selector of your filter elements.
Consider this template:
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<div class="ais-RefinementList">
<ul class="ais-RefinementList-list">
<li class="ais-RefinementList-item">
<div>
<label data-insights-filter="brand:Apple">
<input type="checkbox" value="Apple" />
<span class="ais-RefinementList-labelText">Apple</span>
<span class="ais-RefinementList-count">746</span>
</label>
</div>
</li>
<li class="ais-RefinementList-item">
<!-- ... -->
</li>
<!-- ... -->
</ul>
</div>
In this example, the CSS selector can be .ais-RefinementList-labelText
.
You must add the data-insights-filter
attribute to the element matching the .ais-RefinementList-labelText
selector,
or to a parent element at a higher level in the DOM.
Set up tags
Tags are the functions that run when a trigger is fired. When using GTM with Algolia, each tag corresponds to one method for sending a specific event.
Set up your initialization tag
First, you must set up an initialization tag to connect with the Algolia Insights API.
- In your GTM workspace, go to the Tags section and select Algolia Search Insights.
- In the Init Options section, enter your Algolia application ID and API key with search permissions.
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In the Triggering section, select Initialization—All Pages to trigger this tag on all pages.
Set up view tags for objects
This tag sends a view event to the Algolia Insights API when search results are rendered.
It corresponds to the viewedObjectIDs
method.
Attributes:
- Trigger:
Hits Viewed
- Tag type:
Algolia Search Insights
- Tag method:
Viewed Object IDs
- Event name: select any name for your events but name your events consistently.
Set up view tags for filters
This tag sends a view event to the Algolia Insights API when a filter is applied to the search query.
It corresponds to the viewedFilters
method.
Attributes:
- Trigger:
Hits Viewed
- Tag type:
Algolia Search Insights
- Tag method:
Viewed Filters
- Filters:
{{Algolia Insights Viewed Filters}}
- Event name: select any name for your events but name your events consistently.
Set up click tags for objects related to search
This tag sends a click event to capture a search query and the clicked items and their positions.
It corresponds to the clickedObjectIDsAfterSearch
method.
Attributes:
- Trigger:
View Details
- Tag type:
Algolia Search Insights
- Tag method:
Clicked Object IDs After Search
Set up click tags for objects
This tag sends a click event to the Insights API when users select an item from an Algolia index, regardless of the associated query.
This event can be useful on product detail pages or the shopping cart.
This tag corresponds to the clickedObjectIDs
method.
Attributes:
- Trigger:
View Details
- Tag type:
Algolia Search Insights
- Tag method:
Clicked Object IDs
Set up click tags for filters
This tag sends a click event to the Insights API to capture selected filters.
It accepts the {{Algolia Insights Clicked Filters}}
attribute and corresponds to the clickedFilters
method.
Attributes:
- Trigger:
View Details
- Tag type:
Algolia Search Insights
- Tag method:
Clicked Filters
Set up conversion tags
The following tags send a conversion event to the Insights API:
- Search-related objects. Captures a search query and the converted items. It corresponds to the
convertedObjectIDsAfterSearch
method. Set up this tag like the related click tag. - Objects. Captures items, regardless of the associated query. It corresponds to the
convertedObjectIDs
method. Set up this tag like the related click tag. - Filters. Captures converted filters. It corresponds to the
convertedFilters
method. Set up this tag like the related click tag.
Track add-to-cart and purchase events
If you have an ecommerce website, use conversion tags to track add-to-cart and purchase conversion events. This enhances Algolia’s AI and unlocks features such as revenue analytics.
Configure the additional event subtype, value, currency, and object data (price, discount, quantity) attributes for add-to-cart and purchase events.
To track purchases of multiple items that are associated with different searches, use the Objects tag and specify the query ID values within the object data attribute.
For example, if your object IDs list is ["product-1", "product-2"]
, then your object data list might look like:
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[
{ "queryID": "query-1", "price": 10, "quantity": 1, "discount": 0 },
{ "queryID": "query-2", "price": 5, "quantity": 2, "discount": 15.5 }
]
Support for add-to-cart and purchase events was added on December 4, 2023. For template update instructions, refer to the GTM documentation.
Submit your changes and debug your events
After setting up the variables, tags, and triggers, submit your changes. To ensure all variables are set correctly, use Google Tag Assistant.
The next step is to validate your events.