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Pixel and tag checks

How to check your Amazon Ad Tag is working

Johan Ekdahl
Founder of Plumfinch · Updated 2026-10-31

Filter on amazon-adsystem: amzn.js should load, then event requests carrying your tag ID and an event name such as PageView. For visitors in the EEA and the UK, the same requests need a consent signal (TCF, GPP or Amazon's own), or Amazon cannot use the data at all.

Skip the DevTools: the free scan loads your page in a real browser, accepts and rejects the cookie banner, and shows what the Amazon Ad Tag actually sent.

At a glance

Tag script
c.amazon-adsystem.com/aat/amzn.js
Event requests
Requests to *.amazon-adsystem.com with the tag ID and the event name; older Amazon DSP pixels call /iu3?…&event=…
Tag ID
Created in Amazon Ads (Amazon DSP or the Ads data manager), one per tag
Standard events
PageView, AddToShoppingCart, Checkout, Signup, Lead, Off-AmazonPurchases
Consent
IAB TCF, GPP, or the Amazon Consent Signal (amzn_user_data and amzn_ad_storage, GRANTED or DENIED). If several are sent, Amazon uses the TCF string

What to get right with the Amazon Ad Tag

No consent signal for European visitors

Amazon Ads requires a valid consent signal whenever personal data from the UK or the EEA reaches it. Only one is needed: the IAB TCF string (from a TCF-registered consent tool), a GPP string, or the Amazon Consent Signal. With the Amazon Consent Signal you pass the visitor's country and two values:

amzn_user_data: 'GRANTED' | 'DENIED'   // may Amazon process this visitor's personal data
amzn_ad_storage: 'GRANTED' | 'DENIED'  // may Amazon read or write advertising cookies

Amazon's Google Tag Manager template treats all signals as denied until they are set, and does not fire while GTM's ad_storage or ad_user_data consent is denied. A tag that loads with no signal at all is the case to fix.

Purchases without value, currency or units

Off-Amazon purchase reporting and return on ad spend depend on the purchase event's attributes. Send the order value as a number, the currency as an ISO code (currencyCode) and unitsSold. If you run GA4, Amazon's GTM template can read value and currency straight from the GA4 ecommerce dataLayer, which avoids keeping two mappings in step.

Old DSP pixels next to the new tag

Accounts that used Amazon DSP before the Ad Tag often still have the older pixels on the site, next to amzn.js. The same purchase is then reported by both. List every Amazon request on the confirmation page; if both old and new fire for the same event, retire the old pixel once the Ad Tag event is set up as the conversion.

Personal data in plain text

Amazon's policies forbid passing personally identifiable information such as names or email addresses in tags. Advanced matching sends hashed email or phone through the tag's own fields. A plain email in a request usually comes from the page URL (a thank-you page with ?email=) or a custom attribute filled from the order. The scan flags any plain-text email it sees in an Amazon request.

The wrong region

The tag is set to a region: NA (North and South America, Japan, Australia) or EU. A tag set to the wrong region for its account sends events where the account cannot see them. Check the region setting in your tag or GTM template against the account you created the tag in.

Check it yourself in two minutes

  1. Open your site in a private window with DevTools on the Network tab and filter on amazon-adsystem. Accept the cookie banner and reload.
  2. You should see amzn.js load, followed by event requests. Open one and check the tag ID matches the tag in your Amazon Ads account and the event is the one you expect (PageView on ordinary pages).
  3. Add a product to the cart and complete a test order. Look for the add-to-cart and Off-AmazonPurchases events. The purchase should carry a value, a currency code and the number of units.
  4. For a European visit, check that the requests carry a consent signal: a TCF string from your consent tool, or the Amazon Consent Signal fields.
  5. The Amazon Ad Tag Helper extension for Chrome lists the tags and events on the page in a popup.

What the free scan checks

  • Amazon Ad Tag loads, and sends at least a page view
  • Only one Amazon Ad ID, or a warning if there are more
  • Amazon Ad Tag waits until the visitor accepts cookies
  • Amazon Ad Tag stops after the visitor clicks "reject all"
  • No email addresses in plain text in Amazon Ad Tag requests

Server-side events (Conversions APIs, server-side tagging) are invisible to a public scan, so the report never marks them as working or broken.

Related

Sources

Based on the platforms' public documentation and the requests their public tags make; menus and names change, so check the linked pages if a step looks different.

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