Content & Media Event Schema: The Complete Reference

A complete reference for content and media analytics. All events — from page engagement to video completion — with parameters, data types, and data layer examples you can copy into your tracking plan.

Content sites live and die by engagement metrics. But most teams track nothing beyond page views. That tells you what people clicked on — not what they actually consumed. Did they read the article or bounce after the headline? Did they watch 10 seconds of your video or the full 8 minutes? This reference gives you a structured event schema that turns “visitors” into measurable engagement data.

I’ve used this schema across news publishers, corporate blogs, and media platforms in Europe. It works for any content-driven site — whether you’re monetizing through ads, subscriptions, or lead generation from your content.

Content Engagement Funnel

Content analytics tracks users through four engagement levels. Each level has distinct events that map to specific content performance metrics.

Page Engagement Events

Page views tell you someone arrived. Engagement events tell you they stayed. The gap between the two is where most content analytics fails.

The content_type parameter is your segmentation key. Use consistent values: article, guide, case_study, news, tutorial, landing_page, or blog_post. This lets you compare engagement across content formats without separate events for each.

For scroll_depth, fire at 25% intervals. Avoid tracking every pixel — it creates noise and burns through GA4’s event quotas. The 25/50/75/100 pattern gives you enough granularity to spot drop-off points. When I set this up for a tech publisher in Berlin, we discovered that 70% of readers dropped off before 50% scroll on long-form articles — which led to restructuring content with key takeaways at the top.

Important: the content_visible parameter on time_on_content distinguishes active reading from tab-in-background. Use the Page Visibility API to track whether the tab is actually focused. Without this, your time metrics will be inflated by users who opened your article and switched to another tab.

Data Layer Example: Scroll Depth

window.dataLayer.push({
  "event": "scroll_depth",
  "percent_scrolled": 50,
  "content_type": "article",
  "content_id": "post-1234",
  "word_count": 2400
});

Video Tracking Events

Video is the hardest content type to track well. The challenge isn’t firing events — it’s firing them consistently across YouTube embeds, self-hosted players, and third-party platforms. This schema works with any player that exposes JavaScript events.

Use video_provider to distinguish between player types: youtube, vimeo, wistia, html5, or jwplayer. This matters because YouTube embeds fire events differently than self-hosted HTML5 players, and your GTM triggers need to account for both.

Fire video_complete at 95%, not 100%. Most users skip the last few seconds — especially when an end screen or outro appears. Setting the threshold at 95% gives you a more accurate completion rate. The watch_time parameter (actual seconds watched, excluding paused time) is more valuable than video_duration for measuring real engagement.

The is_autoplay parameter on video_start is critical. Without it, autoplay views inflate your start counts and destroy your start-to-complete ratio. Always separate autoplay from user-initiated plays in your reports.

Data Layer Example: Video Progress

window.dataLayer.push({
  "event": "video_progress",
  "video_title": "GA4 Migration Walkthrough",
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "video_provider": "youtube",
  "percent_watched": 50,
  "video_duration": 480
});

Audio & Podcast Events

Audio tracking follows the same pattern as video but with podcast-specific parameters. If you host episodes on your site or embed players from Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or a custom player, these events capture listening behavior.

Use audio_type to distinguish between podcast_episode, audiobook, music, or voice_article. The audio_speed_change event is surprisingly useful — when a significant portion of listeners use 1.5x or 2x speed, it often signals that your content could be more concise.

Social Sharing & Interaction Events

Sharing events measure content amplification — when readers become distributors. These are the events that tie content quality to organic reach.

Use share_method values like twitter, linkedin, facebook, email, whatsapp, or native_share (for the browser’s Web Share API). The copy_link event captures dark social — people who share by pasting URLs directly into Slack, email, or messages. In my experience, copy-link sharing accounts for 40-60% of all shares on B2B content, yet most analytics setups miss it entirely.

The text_selected event is a lightweight engagement signal — people who highlight text are actively reading and often preparing to quote or reference your content. Don’t overtrack it: fire once per selection, and only when the selection is longer than 20 characters to avoid noise from accidental clicks.

Newsletter & Subscription Events

For content businesses, email subscribers and paid subscribers are the conversion events that map directly to revenue and audience growth.

Use subscribe_location to track which placements convert: inline, end_of_article, popup, sidebar, exit_intent, or header_bar. Combined with content_id, you can see which specific articles drive the most newsletter signups.

The paywall_hit event is essential for metered paywall models. Track articles_read to see how many free articles users consume before hitting the wall — and how that number correlates with conversion to paid. Use paywall_type values like hard, metered, freemium, or registration_wall.

Data Layer Example: Newsletter Subscribe

window.dataLayer.push({
  "event": "newsletter_subscribe",
  "subscribe_location": "end_of_article",
  "newsletter_name": "weekly_digest",
  "content_id": "post-1234"
});

Search & Navigation Events

Internal search and navigation events reveal what users want to find — and whether your content architecture helps or hinders discovery.

The internal_search event with results_count = 0 is a gold mine for content strategy. These zero-result searches tell you exactly what your audience wants but can’t find. Export them monthly and use them to prioritize new articles.

Complete Event Map

Here’s every content and media event at a glance, organized by engagement level with recommended GA4 key event status.

Key events should be reserved for actions that represent genuine content engagement milestones or business value. Mark read_complete, video_complete, audio_complete, newsletter_subscribe, and subscription_started as key events. Everything else stays as regular events — valuable for analysis but not conversions.

GTM Implementation Guide

Here’s how to set up the core content tracking events in Google Tag Manager.

YouTube tracking tip: GTM has a built-in YouTube video trigger that handles start, progress, pause, and complete events automatically. Enable it in your trigger settings and you get video tracking with zero custom code. For non-YouTube players (Vimeo, Wistia, HTML5), you’ll need custom JavaScript that listens to the player’s API and pushes events to the data layer.

Parameter Reuse Strategy

Consistent parameter naming across all content events conserves your GA4 custom dimension slots and simplifies reporting.

Five shared parameters cover 20+ events. The content_id parameter is the most important — it lets you join engagement data across event types. You can answer questions like “which articles that people read completely also generated the most newsletter signups?” by filtering on the same content_id.

Validation Checklist

Before going live with your content tracking, verify each item:

FAQ

Further Reading

• GA4 Recommended Events Reference — Google Analytics
• Enhanced Measurement Events — Google Analytics Help
• YouTube IFrame Player API — Google Developers
• YouTube Video Tracking with GTM — Analytics Mania

Lukas Meier

Product Analytics Specialist based in Munich. Helping teams implement clean, actionable analytics since 2015.