Outside agencies often play a significant role in managing a company’s digital marketing. They may handle everything from paid advertising to website development, and much of that work involves implementing or maintaining tracking through Google Tag Manager (GTM).
In many cases, the agency that originally implemented GTM also created the account and continues to manage it. That arrangement may work well for years, particularly if the business has little reason to access GTM directly.
But what happens when the business decides to change agencies and discovers it doesn’t have administrative access to its own GTM account?
It’s a situation that raises questions about Google Tag Manager ownership and the level of control businesses should maintain over their tracking. Understanding the distinction between GTM accounts and containers is a good place to start.
Understanding Google Tag Manager Accounts and Containers
To understand GTM ownership, it helps to know how Google Tag Manager works.
GTM has two primary levels: accounts and containers. People sometimes use these terms interchangeably, but they serve different purposes.
A GTM account is the top-level structure that can contain one or more containers. Account administrators can manage users and permissions across the account, including granting access to outside agencies or removing access when a relationship ends.
A GTM container holds the actual tracking configuration used on a website or application. This includes:
- Tags: The tracking code and integrations that send information to platforms such as Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Ads, Meta, and other marketing tools.
- Triggers: The conditions that determine when tags should fire, such as a form submission, button click, or page view.
- Variables: The information used by tags and triggers, such as page URLs, transaction values, or other website data.
- Versions: Saved configurations that help track published changes and let users restore previous versions when necessary.
The distinction matters because a business can have access to its GTM container without having administrative control over the account that contains it.
A business may have full access to its GTM container without realizing the account belongs to its agency. Everything works as expected until the business needs to add another vendor or change account permissions. At that point, it may discover that only the agency has the administrative access needed to make those changes.
That arrangement may work perfectly well for years. However, it can create additional steps when the business wants to bring in another vendor, change agencies, or take over management of its tracking.
Ideally, businesses should maintain administrative control of their GTM accounts while giving agencies and consultants the container permissions they need to perform their work.
How Agency Relationships Affect GTM Ownership and Access
It’s common for several agencies or vendors to contribute to a company’s tracking setup over time.
Consider a business that hires a digital marketing agency to manage Google Ads. As part of the engagement, the agency sets up Google Tag Manager to implement conversion tracking. A year later, the business begins advertising on Meta, and the new advertising partner needs access to GTM to implement its tracking.
Meanwhile, the website developer makes changes that affect existing triggers, and an analytics consultant joins the project to review GA4 and improve reporting.
With several vendors now working in GTM, questions about access and responsibility become more important. The original agency may have created the GTM account within its own account structure, while other vendors have received permissions to work in the container. Some may still have access long after their projects have ended.
These arrangements often develop without much thought about who will be responsible for managing GTM in the future. Eventually, the business may find that it relies on an outside agency to manage account permissions or isn’t sure who has the authority to publish changes to its container.
What Happens When a Business Changes Agencies?
Agency transitions are one of the most common situations in which GTM ownership becomes an issue.
A company decides to move its paid advertising to a new agency. The new team needs access to GTM to review existing conversion tracking, make updates, and implement any additional tags required for its campaigns.
How smoothly that process goes can depend on how the GTM account was originally established.
When the business controls its GTM account
If the business maintains administrative access to its GTM account, the transition is generally straightforward from an access standpoint. The GTM container remains in place, along with its tags, triggers, variables, and version history. When a new agency takes over, it can begin working with the existing GTM container as soon as the company grants access.
There may still be technical work involved in transitioning campaigns or updating tracking. For example, Google Ads conversion tags may need to be reviewed if the new agency uses a different advertising account.
But the business doesn’t have to resolve questions about who controls GTM before that work can begin.
When an agency controls the GTM account
Now consider the same transition when the original agency created and administers the GTM account.
The business may have access to its container, but it might not have the account-level permissions needed to manage users or make changes to the overall account structure.
The new agency may need to request access through the previous agency, and the business may need to coordinate a transfer of the container into an account it controls. In many cases, the previous agency will cooperate, and the transition can be completed without significant difficulty.
However, this adds an extra dependency at a time when the business is already managing a vendor change.
In many cases, the previous agency will cooperate, and the transition can be completed without significant difficulty. Problems are more likely to arise when the previous agency is unavailable or the business can no longer reach the person who originally managed the account.
Moving a GTM container out of an agency-controlled account can take some coordination, especially if the business wants to preserve the existing container and its version history.
If access to the existing configuration cannot be obtained, the business may need to spend additional time investigating or rebuilding tracking.
That can delay campaign launches, increase implementation costs, or create gaps in conversion measurement.
Historical data in GA4 and Google Ads is stored separately from GTM, so it should still be available even if the business loses access to its container. The bigger issue is getting the existing tracking updated and maintained, particularly if the previous agency is no longer available to help.
Ownership Alone Doesn’t Guarantee a Well-Managed GTM Container
A business can have full administrative access to its GTM account and still have a container that is difficult to maintain.
For example, several agencies may have permission to publish changes independently. Each adds the tags needed for its campaigns, but nobody is responsible for reviewing how those additions affect the existing setup.
The container may eventually include tags for advertising platforms the company no longer uses or triggers that depend on outdated website elements. Some configurations may have been in place for years without anyone knowing exactly what they do.
Even with full control of the account, the business may still depend on an agency or consultant to explain how its tracking works. As discussed in our article on ongoing Google Tag Manager management, basic documentation and established responsibilities can help prevent that knowledge from being lost when vendors change.
A Practical Approach to GTM Ownership and Vendor Access
Managing GTM ownership and vendor access doesn’t require extensive technical knowledge. Businesses can establish a few basic expectations for how their accounts and containers are managed, even when outside agencies handle the implementation.
1. Keep the GTM account under business control
The company should have its own GTM account, with at least two trusted employees assigned as account administrators. Agencies can handle the technical work within the containers without taking over administration of the account.
2. Know which containers are being used
Businesses should know which GTM containers are installed on their websites and whether those containers are part of a company-controlled account or one managed by an outside agency. For organizations with multiple websites or brands, keeping a basic inventory can make this easier to manage.
3. Give vendors the access they need
Different vendors require different levels of GTM access.
For example, an agency managing Google Ads may need to update conversion tags in GTM. The business can give that agency editing permissions while keeping publishing permissions with the person responsible for overseeing the container. This allows changes to be reviewed and tested before they go live.
Not every vendor needs full administrative access. Google’s GTM user permissions documentation explains the access levels available for accounts and containers, which can help determine what permissions are appropriate for each vendor.
4. Coordinate GTM Changes Across Vendors
When multiple vendors have access to the same GTM container, it’s helpful to have one person overseeing what gets published. That person should also be aware of planned website changes that could affect existing tracking.
For example, a developer might update a website form without realizing that GTM uses elements of that form to track submissions in GA4. Coordinating with whoever manages GTM gives them an opportunity to test the tracking before the updated form goes live..
5. Review access when vendor relationships change
GTM should be included in the onboarding and offboarding process for agencies, consultants, and other vendors.
When a new agency begins working with the business, determine what access it needs and who will provide it.
When a relationship ends, review the vendor’s permissions and remove access that is no longer required.
This is also a good opportunity to confirm whether the departing vendor was responsible for any ongoing tracking maintenance.
6. Maintain basic documentation
Documentation doesn’t need to be extensive to be useful.
At a minimum, businesses should have a record of important tracking integrations, the purpose of key configurations, and who is responsible for maintaining them.
For more complex implementations, documentation may also include naming conventions, testing procedures, and a record of significant changes.
Good documentation should give the next person working in GTM enough information to understand the existing setup without having to piece together years of changes.
Business Control and Agency Expertise Can Coexist
Most businesses will continue to rely on agencies and consultants to manage at least some of their marketing tracking. That makes it especially important to establish who controls the GTM account and how access to its containers will be managed.
Ideally, these decisions should be made when the account is first created or when a new agency relationship begins. For businesses with an existing GTM setup, it’s worth reviewing the current account structure and confirming that appropriate internal personnel have administrative access.
A company shouldn’t have to track down a former agency just to grant someone access to its own GTM container. Taking care of account ownership and permissions now can prevent unnecessary complications the next time a vendor relationship changes.
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