Google Analytics Audit Test #

51

Event Names and Parameter Names That Are Close to Character Limits

Why It Matters:

Critical to understanding user/site behavior in some cases where users came from (attribution).

Industries:

All

Checks For:

Utility

How powerful is your current implementation?

Insight Category:

Behavior

Can you tell what visitors are doing?

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Background

A GA4 audit is essential for uncovering missing insights—key data points that organizations don't yet know and can act upon. A well-done audit evaluates both behavioral tracking and traffic attribution, ensuring each is accurate and useful. It also assesses whether the data collected truly supports business decisions and reporting.

Test Detail

This test checks whether your event names and event parameter names are approaching or exceeding GA4 limits, which can cause unexpected data loss, reporting issues, or tracking failures.

  • GA4 enforces strict limits such as:
    • 40 characters max for event names
    • 40 characters max for parameter names
    • 500 unique event names per property
    • 25 parameters per event
    • 50 custom dimensions and 50 custom metrics total (across all events)
  • When you approach or exceed these limits:
    • Events may stop collecting data
    • Some events or parameters may silently drop
    • You risk hitting GA4’s quota ceilings, leading to broken reports and missing insights
    • Future flexibility becomes restricted as you run out of available dimensions/metrics

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How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In GA4 > Admin > Events, export your list of events and scan for:
    • Long or overly descriptive event names
    • Redundant or inconsistently cased event names (e.g., form_Submit, FormSubmit, formsubmit)
  • In GA4 > Admin > Custom Definitions, check:
    • How many custom dimensions and metrics are currently in use
    • Whether any parameter names exceed 40 characters or are duplicated across multiple events

Advanced QA

  • Run the below query in BigQuery and check parameter name lengths:
    SELECT param.key, LENGTH(param.key) AS key_length, COUNT(*) AS count
    FROM `your_dataset.events_*`, UNNEST(event_params) AS param
    GROUP BY param.key
    HAVING key_length > 35
    ORDER BY key_length DESC;

Automated, Free Audit

Need help flagging events and parameters before they break? Run our Instant Audit

Or hire a pro to restructure and optimize your event naming system.

How To Fix

  • Audit and shorten event and parameter names to well below the 40-character limit (recommended max: 30)
  • Standardize naming conventions:
    • Use lowercase and underscores (form_submit, not FormSubmit)
    • Avoid excessive prefixes or project-specific names (e.g., website_contact_form_click_button_event)
  • De-duplicate similar or overlapping events and consolidate where possible
  • Clean up unused custom dimensions/metrics to free up quota space
  • Document a dataLayer and naming convention guide for internal teams and external vendors
  • Hire a pro to streamline your naming strategy and protect your GA4 implementation from silent failures.

Tips from a Google Analytics Consultant

Focus on Insights

Every Google Analytics audit should result in a plan for more insights.

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An insight is:

  • something you don't know
  • and can act on to improve performance

The Goal

Identify and remove insight blockers. Don't get tempted to track things you can't act on!

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