Google access: what we need, why, and what to do when GA4 shows no data

For dealership staff and marketing agencies.

The four Google products, and why we ask for each

We also sometimes need Google Ads and Merchant Center access when vehicle listing ads are involved. Step-by-step instructions for sharing each are in the separate articles on sharing your Analytics tracking code, Search Console access and Tag Manager access.

Grant access to the account, don't send credentials. Sharing a login is worse for you in every way — it's harder to revoke, it shows every change as coming from your own user, and it usually breaks two-factor authentication. Add us as a user on the account instead.

How GA4 is installed on an Overfuel site

Your GA4 measurement ID is stored in your site settings, and the tag is served on every page from your own domain rather than from googletagmanager.com. That's deliberate — it's far more resilient to ad blockers, so you capture more of your real traffic.

⚠️ This is why generic "is GA4 installed?" checkers report your site as missing GA4. Those tools look for a googletagmanager.com script URL and don't find one, because the tag is served first-party. It is a false negative. Always verify in GA4 Realtime or DebugView, never in a third-party checker or a browser extension.

"GA4 is set up but shows no data"

Work through these in order — the first two explain most reports:

1. You're looking at standard Reports, not Realtime. GA4's standard reports lag 24–48 hours, and longer on a brand-new property. Realtime and DebugView are instant. Open Realtime and browse your own site on your phone — if you appear, data is flowing and you're simply looking at a report that hasn't filled in yet.
2. An internal-traffic filter is excluding you. If someone set up a data filter for your dealership or office IP and left it Active, your own testing is dropped and the property looks dead. In GA4: Admin → Data Settings → Data Filters. Set it to Testing while you validate.
3. The ID was added after the site went live. Then the gap is historical and is already resolving forward from the date it was added.
4. You're looking at the wrong property or data stream. Confirm the measurement ID on your site matches the property you have open — this is common where an agency has created more than one.

If Realtime shows nothing at all while you're actively browsing the site, send us a ticket — at that point it's ours to investigate.

A few things worth knowing

• Multiple Tag Manager containers are normal. Many dealers run Overfuel's container alongside their agency's. GA4 does not fire through Tag Manager on your site, so a second container is not the cause of missing data — but if your agency's container also loads GA4, you'll get double-counted numbers, which is a different problem worth fixing.
• Conversion tracking is a separate setup from basic GA4 reporting. If form submissions aren't showing as conversions in Google Ads, that's its own configuration — open a ticket and tell us which conversion action you're expecting.
• Google Consent Mode is not enabled by default. If your market or policy requires it, contact us before assuming it's running.

What to send Overfuel Support

• Which Google product, and the account or property ID
• What you expected to see, and what you actually see — a screenshot helps
• The date range you're looking at, and whether you checked Realtime
• Which rooftop, if you have more than one
• Whether an agency also has access, and who

Email support@overfuel.com.