## Metadata - Author: [[Simo ahava|Simo Ahava]] - Full Title:: Implementation Guide for Events in Google Analytics 4 - Category:: #🗞️Articles - Document Tags:: [[Google analytics|Google Analytics]], [[Tracking plan|Tracking Plan]] - URL:: https://www.simoahava.com/analytics/implementation-guide-events-google-analytics-4/ - Finished date:: [[2023-07-13]] ## Highlights > Events are, after all, pretty much the *only thing* you can collect in GA4. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h55rzd3n9f2j6eg9fy1vcs3p)) Probably no longer true > While Google Analytics 4 implementation via Google Tag Manager is still somewhat in beta (even if GA4 itself isn’t), it’s still more than possible to set an entire GA4 implementation up with GTM. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h55s2k2rytkjdtwga50fz9g6)) > you should avoid collecting **more than 500** unique event names in GA4. Even though this limit doesn’t seem to be technically enforced (you can collect 500+ unique events), you’re still in violation of a collection limit, and Google can start enforcing this limit at any time. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h55sahhv0j7xj0wbwr1tg8tj)) > if you go over the quotas in event parameters and custom dimensions, they will still be passed through to the [BigQuery export](https://www.simoahava.com/analytics/implementation-guide-events-google-analytics-4/#bigquery-export-and-ga4-events), which makes the BigQuery export a **super** valuable thing to set up in every single GA4 implementation! ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h55sb99m1hmcqqxjybwgx8fr)) > These quotas and limits will most likely change as the platform matures, so I recommend keeping the documentation bookmarked so that you aren’t blindsided by changes that could impact your data quality. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h55sbhpe1677t9h866mm2gwn)) > Custom events are super powerful, even if Google is [oddly diminutive](https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/ga4/events#custom_events) about their use. > For some reason, Google *really* wants you to use anything but custom events ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h55sh8r2mb9vr4g07sgwx86m)) > If something looks off in DebugView, the issue might be at the source (something was wrong with GTM after all), or you could have messed something with GA4’s data stream settings. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h55sjqtdjcvb9rm29zwgyh3s))