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Last updated: 5 Nov 2024

govuk_publishing_components: Google Analytics 4 search tracker

This module allows us to consistently track usage of search across the several different search fields from which a user can initiate a search on GOV.UK:

  • the layout super navigation header
  • the homepage
  • the search page itself

It is not used by the legacy UI for finders, which triggers search events on user input (rather than waiting for form submission) as part of its "live search" functionality.

How it works

Annotate a <form> element containing a search field (<input type="search">, for example the search or search_with_autocomplete publishing components) with the module and its required data fields:

<form
  data-module="ga4-search-tracker"
  data-ga4-search-type="site search"
  data-ga4-search-url="/search"
  data-ga4-search-section="section"
  data-ga4-search-index-section="19"
  data-ga4-search-index-section-count="89"
>

When the form is submitted, a search event with the will be tracked containing:

  • the type, URL, section, index section, and index section count fields based on the data attributes outlined above
  • the state (text) of the search field contained within
  • information about the user's interaction with autocomplete (if present), based on attributes set by the search_with_autocomplete component