# Event tracking

Category: [Analytics & Measurement](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/analytics-measurement/) › [Tracking & consent](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/analytics-measurement/tracking-consent/) · Also known as: GA4 events

**Event tracking** is the measurement of individual interactions on a website or in an app, such as link clicks, file downloads, video plays, or form submissions. An analytics tool records each interaction as an event with a name and optional parameters, and reports on them.

## How does event tracking work in GA4?

Google Analytics 4 is built entirely on events. Even a page view is recorded as the event `page_view`. Google sorts events into four groups: automatically collected events, enhanced measurement events, recommended events with predefined names, and custom events. Custom events don't show up in most standard reports.

Enhanced measurement covers common interactions without extra code. Examples include `scroll` when 90% of a page's height becomes visible, outbound link clicks, `file_download`, site search, and `form_start` and `form_submit`. Any event can be marked as a key event, which is how GA4 labels actions that matter to the business.

Older tutorials describe the Universal Analytics model with category, action, and label. Standard Universal Analytics properties stopped processing data on July 1, 2023.

## Example

```javascript
gtag('event', 'sign_up', {
  method: 'email'
});
```

`sign_up` is a recommended event, and `method` is a parameter. With Google Tag Manager, the same event usually arrives through `dataLayer.push()`.

## Common mistakes

- **Custom names for standard actions.** If a recommended event exists, its name unlocks reporting that a custom name doesn't.
- **Inconsistent spelling.** Event names are case-sensitive, so `sign_up` and `Sign_Up` count as two events.
- **Double counting.** An enhanced measurement event and a custom tag can record the same action twice (assessment).

## Related terms

- [Tracking](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/tracking/index.md)
- [Web analytics](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/web-analytics/index.md)
- [Google Tag Manager](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/google-tag-manager/index.md)
- [Conversion rate](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/conversion-rate/index.md)
- [Google Analytics 4 (GA4)](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/google-analytics-4/index.md)
- [Data layer](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/data-layer/index.md)

## Sources

- [[GA4] About events – Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9322688)
- [[GA4] Enhanced measurement events – Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9216061)
- [[GA4] Event naming rules – Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/13316687)
- [Set up events – Google Analytics, Google for Developers](https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/ga4/events)
- [Universal Analytics has been replaced by Google Analytics 4 – Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11583528)
- [About key events – Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/13965727)

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Last updated: October 7, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/event-tracking/