My Step-By-Step Blueprint For Learning and Mastering Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

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Last Updated: May 24, 2022

Overview

Google Analytics periodically checks your data and checks if there are any configuration issues. When Google Analytics finds any issues, it sends notifications as a gentle reminder so that you can fix them.

Sometimes Google Analytics will send you a ‘Tracking Code Mismatch’ notification like in the image below.

You get this notification when some or all of the web pages on your website have got Google analytics tracking code which is meant for another web property. In other words, you are using the Google Analytics tracking code of another website.

Another reason for having this notification is that Google Analytics has detected that the Google Ads account is linked to a different Google Analytics account than the one present on the destination URL. 

This type of issue is more likely to occur if you manage multiple websites. Now let’s see in detail the reasons for having this notification.

Why do you get the ‘Tracking Code Mismatch’ notification in Google Analytics?

Some of the reasons for having ‘Tracking Code Mismatch’ notification could be

#1. Multiple websites

In a larger organization that needs a larger digital ecosystem with multiple websites connected. It may be possible that while deploying any new functionality the wrong tracking code is placed on the website. In such a case you will get this notification. 

This could happen when you are deploying a new website functionality across multiple websites and somehow didn’t pay attention to selecting the Universal Analytics account according to the website. 

#2. Google Ads (AdWords) account issue

If you have linked your Google Ads account to one Google Analytics property and the destination URL in the ads has a different analytics property, you are most likely to get this notification.

For example, suppose you have analytics property UA-XXXX-11 which is linked to the Google Ads account A. Now the destination URL set in the Ads campaigns contains a different domain with different analytics property UA-YYYY-22. In such cases, you are most likely to get a ‘Tracking Code Mismatch’ notification.

#3. GTM variable logic with multiple domains

If you are using Google Tag Manager for analytics implementation and you are also using multiple domains or hostname (website environment). In such a scenario you will generally use the lookup table variable to select the analytics property to which data will be sent. 

For example, this lookup variable will decide the analytics property to which data will be sent based on the hostname or page URL  like 

If the hostname is “www.example.com” data will be sent to UA-XXXX-11 property, and if the hostname is “dev.example.com” data will be sent to UA-XXXX-22 property. 

Now while deciding the variable condition, if there are any configuration errors and some or all of the web pages on your website have got Google analytics tracking code which is meant for another web property. You are most likely to get this notification.

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How to fix the ‘Tracking Code Mismatch’ notification in Google Analytics

Based on the reason for having ‘Tracking Code Mismatch” notifications in Google Analytics, here are a few solutions that will help you fix it.

#1. Prevention of code mismatch

The best fix to have a different analytics code on your website is to prevent it from happening. 

You need to make sure that every deployment going live must be checked thoroughly and validate if the correct tracking code is used. You can bring all teams together working on the deployment, establish best practices to be followed and stick to it.  

Make sure that you check your GA tracking code in-network call using the following steps

Step-1: Navigate to your website and just right-click on a web page and select ‘Inspect’:

Step-2: A developer console window will be opened at the bottom of a web page, click on the ‘Network’ Tab

Step-3: Type “Collect?” in the Filter on the Left-hand side and refresh the page.

Step-4: Once the Page is refreshed, you can see the Collect call in the network tab. You can click on the collect call and then on “Headers” to see what information is being passed to Google Analytics. In the below image you can see a page view call sent to google analytics property. 

Step-5: Now you can validate if the property is the correct property or not.

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#2. Fixing Google Ads account issue

If the ‘Tracking Code Mismatch” notification is triggered because your Google Ads account is targeting multiple domains, you can ignore this error. But if you do not have any other domain then check within Google Analytics reporting and go to 

Acquisition >> Campaigns>> Paid Keywords and look for (not set):

If you see “(not set)” value then you have a serious problem and you are directing traffic from your Google Ads account to the Analytics property that is not linked with each other. Make sure that you should have the same analytics property for which you have linked your Google Ads account in the destination URL of the campaigns.

#3. Updating Analytics tracking code using logic

Even if you are using any GTM variable to select the analytics property account you need to test your logic or condition that decides the final analytics property. You can try and the test is using Google Analytics preview mode for this. This way you can validate your logic or condition and it won’t create any issues as well.

So this is how you can fix ‘Tracking Code Mismatch’ in Google Analytics.

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Frequently asked questions about fixing ‘Tracking Code Mismatch’ notification in Google Analytics