GA4 Content Groups: How to Set Up Google Analytics 4 Content Grouping

Update time: January 11, 2025

Content Groups (also called Content Grouping) in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) allow you to organize pages into meaningful categories, such as Blog, Products, Support, or Documentation.

Instead of analyzing hundreds of individual URLs, you can evaluate the performance of entire sections of your website, making it easier to measure engagement, compare content categories, and identify which types of pages generate the most traffic or conversions.

Although GA4 includes a built-in Content group dimension in the Pages and Screens report, many users find that it only displays “(not set)”.

This happens because GA4 does not automatically assign Content Groups. To populate this dimension, you must send the content_group parameter with your page view events, typically using Google Tag Manager (GTM).

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What Content Groups are in GA4
• Why Content Group shows “(not set)”
• How to configure Content Groups using GTM
• How to verify your implementation
• Best practices for maintaining Content Groups

What Are Content Groups in GA4?

Content Groups are a built-in GA4 feature that lets you classify pages into logical categories.

For example:

Instead of reviewing every individual page, you can analyze reports by content category, making it easier to compare the performance of different sections of your website.

Common use cases include:

• Measuring blog performance
• Comparing product categories
• Analyzing documentation or help center content
• Evaluating landing page engagement
• Tracking conversions by content category

Why Does Content Group Show “(not set)” in GA4?

The Content group dimension is available in the Pages and Screens report, but it is not populated automatically.

You’ll typically see “(not set)” for one of the following reasons:

• GA4 does not automatically create Content Groups.
• The content_group parameter is not sent with your page views.
• No page grouping rules have been configured in GTM or your website code.
• The parameter is configured incorrectly or only sent with selected events.

If every page displays “(not set)”, the most likely cause is that the content_group parameter has not been implemented.

How to Set Up Content Groups in GTM

Step 1: Group Pages Using a RegEx Table Variable

The first step is to define how your website pages should be grouped.

There are several ways to generate a Content Group value in GTM:

• RegEx Table Variable (recommended)
• JavaScript Variable (advanced use cases)

For most websites, a RegEx Table Variable is the simplest and easiest solution to maintain.

Create a RegEx Table Variable and map page paths to content groups.

Step 2: Send content_group to GA4

Next, open your GA4 Configuration Tag (or Google Tag) in GTM.

Add a new parameter:

Important: Configure this in your GA4 base page tracking tag, not only in individual event tags. Otherwise, the Content Group dimension may remain empty for page views.

Step 3: Test in Preview Mode and Publish

Before publishing, enable GTM Preview Mode, open Tag Assistant, navigate across different page types, and verify that the content_group parameter is correctly sent in your GA4 requests.

Once everything is working correctly, publish your GTM container.

Step 4: Verify Content Group Data in GA4 Reports

After deployment and once new data has been collected, go to「Reports」——「Engagement 」——「Pages and Screens」，

Then add or search for the Content group dimension.

You should now see grouped values such as:

This confirms that your Content Groups have been implemented successfully.

Best Practices

To keep your Content Groups accurate and easy to maintain:

• Use clear, descriptive category names.
• Keep naming conventions consistent across your website.
• Prefer URL-based grouping rules whenever possible.
• Test all rules in GTM Preview Mode before publishing.
• Update your grouping rules whenever new sections are added to your website.

Summary

Content Groups are one of the easiest ways to improve content reporting in Google Analytics 4.

To implement them successfully:

• Define page grouping rules in GTM using a RegEx Table Variable.
• Send the content_group parameter through your GA4 Configuration Tag.
• Validate the implementation using GTM Preview Mode and DebugView.
• Verify the data in the Pages and Screens report.

Once implemented, Content Groups allow you to analyze website performance by content category instead of individual URLs, making your GA4 reports more organized and actionable.