Understanding Unwanted Data Transmission from Legacy Google Analytics Tags to a Google Game
Recently, a website owner confronted a perplexing issue involving legacy Google Analytics tags. The concern centered around the detection of a third-party game—Flood-It!—receiving website data through an unfamiliar and unmanaged Google Tag. This situation raised questions about data security, account permissions, and the transparency of third-party integrations.
The Core Issue: Unexpected Data Sharing via Google Tags
The website owner noticed that their site was transmitting information to a game called Flood-It! available on Google Play. Further investigation revealed that a legacy Google Analytics tag—one that is no longer actively managed—was responsible for sending website data to an external site associated with the game. Crucially, the ownership of this tag was unclear, and the owner lacked administrative permissions to modify or remove it.
Clarifying Google’s Demo and Test Accounts
The owner contacted Google Analytics support and received an explanation indicating that the Flood-It! property was a demo account provided by Google. The response clarified that the tag was managed by Google and retrieved data from its own website and app, implying that the data sharing was limited to Google’s demo environment and not the owner’s direct website data.
While this might seem reassuring initially, it raises broader concerns about the visibility and control over such integrations—especially when they appear without prior warning or clear documentation.
The Challenge of Legacy Tags and Site Migration
This issue often arises during website migrations or updates. The owner mentioned transitioning from legacy Google Analytics tags to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). During this process, legacy tags can sometimes linger or become intertwined with new setups, especially if multiple tags are implemented via tag managers or manually embedded code.
In this case, the legacy Google Tag in question was not part of the current Google Tag Manager setup, yet it still appeared to be transmitting data. This situation can occur if tags were embedded directly into the site’s code, or if there’s residual code from previous implementations.
Can This Tag Be Removed? What Are the Options?
The website owner is now faced with a pressing question: Is it possible to remove this legacy tag themselves, or must they rely on Google support to intervene?
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Self-Removal: If the tag was embedded manually in the website’s code, and the owner has access to the site’s HTML or content management system, they might be able to identify and delete the relevant code snippet directly.
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Using Tag Management: If a tag manager (like Google
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