Google Debuts New Implementation For Google Tag Manager
If you use Google Tag Manager on any of your websites, you should take a look at Google’s new recommended implementation.
Previous Method
Previously, tag manager provided one chunk of code that should have been installed immediately after the opening <body> tag.
If you were feeling rebellious, you could chop that chunk up and put the Javascript section right after the <head> tag, and the ‘noscript’ section after opening <body tag>.
That method allowed for faster loading of the container for browsers using Javascript, and a noscript fallback for browsers with Javascript disabled.
Google did not officially recommend that install method. (Lunametrics.com)
Google’s New Recommended Implementation
Google has made some changes to Tag Manager, and now officially recommends installing it using two snippets of code: one piece of code after the <head> tag, and one after the opening <body> tag.
When you visit tagmanager.google.com to grab your code, you’ll now see the new instructions with the two pieces of code.
You can also find updated documentation on how to install Google Tag Manager here.
It’s important to note that any site with GTM installed the old way will continue to work, so no need to panic if you can’t update your code immediately.
More
Google shared this news along with other Tag Manager updates in a blog post here.
The other major news is that they’ve added more third-party tag templates, so it’s even more convenient to add tags like Bing and Twitter remarketing to your site through GTM.
References:
http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2014/12/12/google-tag-manager-snippet-placement/
http://analytics.googleblog.com/2016/10/spotlight-on-google-tag-manager-open.html