Same event, different names: GA4, Meta and TikTok
Published by the UTM Builder team at Limner.
Each platform has its own list of standard events, and the names change from one to the next. A platform recognizes the event when it uses that platform’s standard name. A custom event with a similar name may not be treated as the standard one.
The table
| Action | GA4 | Meta | TikTok |
|---|---|---|---|
| View product | view_item | ViewContent | ViewContent |
| Add to cart | add_to_cart | AddToCart | AddToCart |
| Begin checkout | begin_checkout | InitiateCheckout | InitiateCheckout |
| Add payment info | add_payment_info | AddPaymentInfo | AddPaymentInfo |
| Purchase | purchase | Purchase | Purchase |
| Lead | generate_lead | Lead | Lead |
| Sign-up | sign_up | CompleteRegistration | CompleteRegistration |
| Site search | search | Search | Search |
| Wishlist | add_to_wishlist | AddToWishlist | AddToWishlist |
| Contact | custom event | Contact | Contact |
What changed in TikTok
TikTok renamed two standard events: SubmitForm became Lead and CompletePayment became Purchase. TikTok help says existing setups keep working without code changes, that the old names show up under the new names in reports and that they remain supported indefinitely. For new setups, use Lead and Purchase.
Rules that prevent duplicate data
- Pixel and API with the same identifier. In Meta, the pixel sends
eventIDand the Conversions API sendsevent_id, with the same value and the same event name. - One
transaction_idper order. Google Analytics help says purchases recorded with the same ID are deduplicated. This applies to web streams, not app streams, and it’s what keeps a purchase from being counted twice when someone reloads the thank-you page. - Numeric value and ISO currency code.
value: 249.90andcurrency: 'USD', with no currency symbol, no commas and no quotes around the number.