Guide 35 · Ecommerce · GA4 + Tag Manager

Send select_content for items: the product click that is not a list click

Checked 11 November 2026 · Verification: reference file checked in Python (figures recomputed from the worked example) · Steps traced to Google's developer docs and Analytics Help, opened 11 November 2026 · 5-minute read

Select_item is for a product in a list. Select_content is for content of a type: send it with content_type product when the click is on a product card outside a measured list.

Expected signal

After step 3, DebugView shows a select_content event with content_type product and content_id C_12345, fired once per click. After about 24 hours, the Events report shows the content_type breakdown for the clicks.

Download the reference: the select-content-items reference (JSON) (930 bytes, MD5 8f50da51db97d619a22a7804593d9fc4). It holds the event parameters, the worked example, and the recomputed figures.

What you need

The Google tag on the site. The event is sent through the Google tag; the install guide covers it.
Access to the website source code, or a Tag Manager container. The event fires from the click on a product card or tile that is not part of a measured list.
An ID for the content that was clicked. The worked click is on Google's own product: content_id C_12345, the Stan and Friends Tee, SKU_12345, 10.01 each.

The trace

Decide whether the click is a list click or a content click. A click on a product inside a list you measure with view_item_list is a select_item event, with the list ID. A click on a product card outside such a list — a featured product on the home page, a tile in an editorial block — is a select_content event with content_type product. Pick one; sending both for the same click records the same action twice.
Send content_type and content_id together. The call is gtag("event", "select_content", { content_type: "product", content_id: "C_12345", items: [{ item_id: "SKU_12345", item_name: "Stan and Friends Tee", price: 10.01, quantity: 3 }] }). The content_id must include at least one non-numeric character, so C_12345 is valid and a bare 12345 is not. The item's line is 10.01 × 3 = 30.03, which keeps the click tied to the product record.
Keep content_id stable for the same product. The same featured tee on the home page and in an email landing block should carry the same content_id, or the report splits one product's clicks into two rows. Derive the ID from the product, not from the page.
Check it in DebugView. Turn on debug mode, click the product card, and open DebugView (Admin, then Data display, then DebugView). Select the select_content event and check content_type reads product and content_id reads C_12345. One click must produce one event.
Confirm the reports after about 24 hours. Select_content is a recommended event, not an ecommerce funnel event, so it appears in the Events report rather than in the Monetization funnels. That is the right place for it: it answers which content gets clicked, not what gets bought.

Dead ends

DEAD END — A CONTENT_ID OF PURE DIGITS. Google's rule is that content_id must include at least one non-numeric character. A numeric-only ID is not recorded as intended. Prefix the product number with a letter, as in C_12345, and keep the scheme consistent.

DEAD END — SELECT_CONTENT AND SELECT_ITEM FOR THE SAME CLICK. The two events answer different questions: select_item measures a list, select_content measures a piece of content. Firing both on one click counts the action twice and makes the list click-through rate wrong. Choose by where the click happened.

DEAD END — EXPECTING IT IN THE MONETIZATION FUNNELS. Select_content does not feed the purchase journey or the checkout journey. Those funnels are built from the ecommerce events — view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, purchase. A select_content that never appears in a funnel is not broken; it lives in the Events report.

End state

Every click on a product card outside a measured list sends one select_content event with content_type product, a content_id that includes a letter (C_12345), and the product in the items array, worth 10.01 × 3 = 30.03. DebugView shows the event the same minute, and after about 24 hours the Events report breaks the clicks down by content_type.

Sources

Google Analytics developer docs — Recommended events — the select_content event, content_type product, the content_id rule, and the gtag example
Google Analytics developer docs — Measure ecommerce — the ecommerce event set that select_content sits outside, and the items array rules

Checked 11 November 2026. The event definition above is the one in Google's recommended events reference, opened 11 November 2026, with the ecommerce guide for the items array. No step was run inside a live Analytics property, because that needs a Google sign-in and this site does not sign in as anyone. The figures were recomputed in Python: 10.01 × 3 = 30.03. The reference file was checked the same way.