In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, understanding the intricacies of tools like Google Tag Manager (GTM) is crucial. Insights from a seasoned CEO and a knowledgeable Director highlight the importance of managing permissions and setting up access controls. This article explores their expert opinions on the significant risks associated with GTM, revealing practical strategies for safeguarding your digital assets.
With a total of eight insights, the first emphasises careful permission management, while the final one stresses the necessity of access controls.
- Manage Permissions Carefully
- Secure Against Unauthorised Access
- Limit Admin Access
- Watch for Malicious Code
- Test Thoroughly Before Deployment
- Avoid Tag Overload
- Implement Proper Naming Conventions
- Set Up Access Controls
Manage Permissions Carefully
Google Tag Manager is powerful but comes with risks if not managed properly. One issue we’ve seen is mishandled permissions. If someone inexperienced has editing access, even a small mistake like adding a tag with excessive JavaScript can slow down the site. Tight role management helps avoid this.
Another risk is data privacy. Misconfigured tags can unintentionally send sensitive data to third parties, leading to compliance problems with laws like GDPR. Regular audits and strict data capture rules are essential to stay safe.
Lastly, too many tags can hurt performance. To prevent this, we recommend reviewing active tags regularly and removing unnecessary ones. With proper oversight and regular checks, GTM is a great tool without the risks getting in the way.
Vikrant Bhalodia, Head of Marketing & People Ops, WeblineIndia
Secure Against Unauthorised Access
Google Tag Manager is a fantastic tool when it’s used right. But let’s be real: it comes with some serious risks that we can’t just brush aside.
First up, security vulnerabilities. GTM allows multiple users to add tags, which is super convenient, but it also opens the door for potential hackers. If someone gets unauthorised access, they could inject nasty scripts that mess with your website or steal sensitive data. For example, if we’re running a campaign for an e-commerce client and a hacker takes over, it could lead to data breaches that ruin their reputation and scare off customers. Yikes!
Next, let’s talk about data privacy. With laws like GDPR and CCPA tightening the screws on how we handle customer data, using GTM without a solid plan can lead to some serious trouble. Imagine we accidentally track personal info without consent—our clients could face hefty fines and legal headaches. Nobody wants that! As marketers, we’ve got to make sure we’re collecting data responsibly and transparently.
Then there’s the issue of website performance. If you overload a site with too many tags, it can slow everything down. Picture this: we’re running a big campaign for a travel client, and their site takes forever to load because of all the tags we’ve piled on. Customers might bail before they even see what’s on offer! That not only hurts conversions but can also tank their SEO rankings.
Finally, let’s not forget about management complexities. Keeping track of all those tags requires constant attention. I’ve seen clients struggle when tags are misconfigured or outdated, leading to inaccurate data reporting. This can throw off campaign metrics and lead to poor decision-making.
Kate Dzhevaga, CMO, Head of Growth, SYMVOLT
Limit Admin Access
I noticed that the biggest risk with Google Tag Manager is giving too many people access without clear controls. It’s powerful but also dangerous—one wrong configuration or an unvetted script can mess with your site’s functionality or even leak sensitive data. That’s why I always recommend limiting admin access and auditing your tags regularly. It’s like handing out keys to your house—only trust the people who know what they’re doing.
Tom Molnar, Operations Manager, Fit Design
Watch for Malicious Code
Google Tag Manager (GTM) offers incredible flexibility, but with that comes exposure to some lesser-known risks. One significant concern is the potential for erroneous or malicious code insertion. With multiple users often having access, a small mistake in the configuration can lead to significant issues on your site, like broken functionality or security vulnerabilities. Because GTM simplifies the process of adding tags, it’s easy to overlook the importance of code reviews, leading to inadvertent data leaks or slowed site performance.
Another risk involves the temptation to over-tag your site. While it’s convenient to deploy various analytics and marketing scripts, too many tags can increase page load times, negatively impacting the user experience and even SEO performance. With Google’s emphasis on site speed as a ranking factor, it’s crucial to maintain a balance between data collection and site efficiency.
Adopt a structured approach and regularly audit the tags implemented. Schedule periodic reviews to ensure only necessary tags are active and running efficiently. This not only helps in preventing tag bloat but also maintains the integrity of your data and site performance.
Jean Chen, COO & CHRO, Mondressy
Test Thoroughly Before Deployment
Key risks with Google Tag Manager (GTM) include potential security vulnerabilities and site performance issues. Misconfigured tags once caused data inaccuracies, highlighting the importance of thorough testing. Unmonitored user access to GTM can also lead to unauthorised changes, jeopardising data integrity.
Another concern is slower site load times from excessive or unoptimised tags. Regular audits and access controls mitigate these risks, ensuring GTM remains a valuable tool without compromising security or performance.
Tornike Asatiani, CEO, Edumentors
Avoid Tag Overload
The real problem with GTM is the massive disconnect between how simple it looks and how complex it actually is. Marketing teams see it as a quick way to add tags, but GTM’s whole “preview mode” and trigger system is confusing even for developers. You never quite know what will fire when, and testing changes properly is a nightmare.
Setting up proper staging environments for GTM is unnecessarily complicated—you basically need separate containers, different variables, and complex workspace management just to test something that should be simple. And since marketing can push changes live with one click, you often end up with untested code running directly on production.
It’s a classic case of making something “easy” for non-technical users that actually creates more problems than it solves. Sure, marketing can add tracking pixels without bothering developers, but when something breaks, debugging becomes exponentially harder because the code isn’t even in your codebase.
What we really need is a simpler system that respects proper deployment processes while still giving marketing the flexibility they need. GTM tries to do everything and ends up being too complex for everyone.
Vincent Schmalbach, Web Developer, AI Engineer & SEO Expert, Vincent Schmalbach
Implement Proper Naming Conventions
One major problem with GTM is data privacy and its impact on page speed. Adding the GTM script can easily lead to slower page load times. While GTM simplifies collaboration with agencies, we decided to remove it from oscarstories.com to adopt a cookieless approach.
Matthias Neumayer, Co-Founder, Oscar Stories
Set Up Access Controls
One of the main risks with Google Tag Manager (GTM) is the potential for incorrect tag implementation, which can lead to inaccurate tracking and data collection. This can significantly impact marketing insights and campaign performance. Additionally, managing multiple tags within GTM without a proper naming convention or structure can cause confusion and errors, especially in larger teams. Since GTM allows non-developers to add and modify tags, there’s a risk of unintentional changes that can break functionality or introduce conflicts with other tags.
Lastly, if proper access control isn’t set up, unauthorised users could gain control over tag configurations, leading to security vulnerabilities. These risks can be mitigated with proper training, clear processes, and security settings.
Bram Louwers, Director, BrainManager
