Setting Up Ga4 Server Side Tracking With Gtm

The GTM server-side setup we deploy for every client routes all GA4 events through a first-party subdomain hosted on Google Cloud Run — same container architecture across every account, same verification steps, same data-integrity checks at the end. What follows is a record of that deployment: what a standard RP tracking infrastructure install looks like from container creation through to data-stream verification. The step-by-step is there for anyone auditing what we built. The result of a complete deployment is every GA4 event routing through a first-party endpoint, client-side and server-side containers talking correctly, and the tracking gap that most browser-side setups carry closed to under three percent.

What you need before you start

A Google Cloud account with billing enabled. Access to your domain DNS settings. An existing GA4 property with at least one web data stream configured. A GTM web container already installed on your site.

Step 1: Create your server container

In GTM, create a new container and select Server as the target platform. Download the provisioning configuration file — you will need this when deploying to Cloud Run. Set the environment to production and note your preview server URL for testing.