# Google Tag Manager auto-event tracking - useful Tags, Macros and Rules for Google Analytics events

> The recent introduction of <a href="http://analytics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/no-code-required-auto-event-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">auto-event tracking</a>&nbsp;for <a href="http://www.google.com/tagmanager/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Tag Manager</a>&nbsp;was a welcome piece of news for many of us keen to remove custom jQuery from within the container. But it quickly became apparent that, to make real use of the auto-event tracking feature,

Source: https://www.measurelab.co.uk/insights/blog/useful-tags-macros-rules-google-analytics-event-tracking-google-tag-manager/  
Author: Mark Rochefort  
Published: 2013-11-25  
Updated: 2025-07-31

```
			The recent introduction of <a href="http://analytics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/no-code-required-auto-event-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">auto-event tracking</a>&nbsp;for <a href="http://www.google.com/tagmanager/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Tag Manager</a>&nbsp;was a welcome piece of news for many of us keen to remove custom jQuery from within the container. But it quickly became apparent that, to make real use of the auto-event tracking feature, a few hoops needed to be jumped through - to get things just as one might expect. Over the last few weeks, we've started to repeat certain implementations - particularly for GA event tracking - and so I thought I'd share these here. The three common GA events being - outbound link tracking, file download tracking and form submission tracking.&nbsp;In putting together these, I came across &nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fourthsource.com/web-development/google-tag-manager-series-4-tips-tricks-setting-google-analytics-implementation-google-tag-manager-16156" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">similar recent post from Rachel Sweeney</a>&nbsp;(thanks Rachel!) - you will notice some overlap:
```

#### Macros

**Macro Name:**getDomain **Macro Type:** URL **Component**: hostname (tick strip "www") **What this does:**Returns hostname without www (there's already a default one called "url hostname" - leave this as it will also come in handy, although you might want to rename it to getFullDomain or something)

**Macro Name:**getFilename **Macro Type:** Custom JavaScript **Custom JavaScript:**

function() { var fileName = {{gtm.elementUrl}}.split('?').shift().split('/').pop(); return fileName.toLowerCase(); }

**What this does:**Removes query strings, searches for the last slash, keeps everything after it. Returns a clean document filename and extension.

**Macro Name:**getFiletype **Macro Type:** Custom JavaScript **Custom JavaScript:**

function() { var extension = (/[.]/.exec({{getFilename}})) ? /[^.]+$/.exec({{getFilename}}) : undefined; return extension; }

**What this does:**Uses our getFilename macro and some regex to grab file extension and return.

**Macro Name:**isOutboundUrl **Macro Type:** Custom JavaScript **Custom JavaScript:**

function(){ return ( ({{gtm.elementUrl}}.match(/^https?\:/i)) && ({{gtm.elementUrl}}.indexOf("{{getDomain}}")<0) ); }

**What this does:**Returns true if link starts with http or https AND link does not contain current hostname (sub-domains included) - otherwise returns false.

**Macro Name:**gtm.elementUrl **Macro Type:** Auto-Event Variable **Variable Type:** *Element URL* **What this does:**The value is determined by reading the 'gtm.elementUrl' key from the data layer. If populated by an Auto-Event, the result will be the 'href' or 'action' attribute of the DOM element that triggered the event, depending on the type of element.

**Macro Name:**gtm.elementId **Macro Type:** Auto-Event Variable **Variable Type:** *Element ID* **What this does:**The value is determined by reading the 'gtm.elementId' key from the data layer. If populated by an Auto-Event, the result will be the 'id' attribute of the DOM element that triggered the event.

#### RULES

**Rule Name:** event is form submit **Conditions:***{{event}} equals gtm.formSubmit*

**Rule Name:** event is link clicked to download file **Conditions:** *{{gtm.elementUrl}} matches RegEx (ignore case) .(txt|svg|png|jpg|eps|vsd|mov|avi|wmv|zip|rar|exe|pdf|doc*|xls*|ppt*|mp3)$* AND *{{event}} equals gtm.linkClick*

**Rule Name:** event is link clicked to outbound **Conditions:** *{{event}} equals gtm.linkClick* AND *{{isOutboundUrl}} equals true*

#### TAGS

**Tag name:**GA auto-events - Form submitted **Tag type:**Google Analytics **Track Type:** Event - category: *Form*- action: *submitted: {{gtm.elementId}}*- label: *on: {{url}}***Firing rules:***event is form submit*

**Tag name:**GA auto-events - Download links **Tag type:** Google Analytics **Track Type:** Event

- category: *Download*
- action: *type: {{getFiletype}}*
- label: *file: {{getFilename}}* **Firing rules***:* *event is link clicked to download file* **Notes:** bug in GTM currently prevent these macros from being used on their own in event tracking fields. Adding a string prefix (like “type: “) seems to fix that

**Tag name:**GA auto-events - Outbound links **Tag type:** Google Analytics **Track Type:** Event

- category: *Outbound*
- action: *link: {{gtm.elementUrl}}*
- label: *on: {{url}}* **Firing rules***: event is link clicked to outbound*