Server-side Tagging

👋 Discover how server-side tagging works, and how it differs from client-side tracking. We'll highlight the benefits of server-side tagging in terms of controlling data collection and improving performance.

Server-side operation

Faced with today's constraints, client-side tracking is coming up against a growing problem: browser restrictions on the use of third-party cookies. These restrictions, designed to safeguard the confidentiality of Internet users, have a direct impact on the effectiveness of companies' digital marketing. Server-side tracking is a solution to mitigate these direct consequences.

Server-side tagging consists in executing tags and scripts directly on the server, rather than on the user's browser. Basically, it's a Google Tag Manager container hosted on a server.

Unlike Client-Side tracking, Server-Side tracking transmits information from the web server to a destination server, which processes the data before sending it to marketing platforms, analytics tools or content personalization tools.

☝ If data governance is paramount to your business, then setting up server-side data collection for your analytics tool should also be top of mind.

The difference between client-side and server-side tracking

• Client-side tracking is the most widely used to date, collecting data via beacons directly from the user's browser to the marketing platform's server. It has a major impact on web performance and relies on third-party cookies.

• Server-side tracking, on the other hand, transmits information from the web server to a destination server, breaking down HTTP requests into events and processing the data before sending it to marketing platforms, analytics tools or content personalization tools.

Server-side tracking operating principles

⚠️ A server-side implementation does not dispense with the need to obtain consent.

The benefits of server-side tagging

Here's a list of the advantages of server-side tag configuration:

✅ Recover up to +30% of data

By bypassing the tracking prevention mechanisms built into browsers and some adblockers, you can theoretically recover more data.

• 👍 Increase the performance of attribution algorithms and models. Better recognition of the same user across multiple sessions.

• 👍 Enriching incoming data with additional relevant information, using systems such as a CRM and tag manager.

✅ Minimizing the impact of scripts on web performance

• 👍 Improve page load times for SEO.

• 👍 Better data quality by ensuring that all tags are executed under the same conditions, regardless of browser or device variations.

✅ Mastering data collection

• 👍 Control the data sent to partners. No unauthorized JavaScript code will be executed on the site by any of the suppliers.

• 👍 Simplify tag management by centralizing tag configuration and deployment.

The benefits of setting up Facebook CAPI

Facebook CAPI is Facebook's server-side data collection method.

Here are the main advantages (based on Facebook Ads):

• Optimizing the performance of Facebook algorithms according to a specified campaign objective;

• Improved effectiveness of retargeting campaigns (wider audiences, adjusted display frequency, messages better adapted to the sales stage, etc.);

• Development of higher-quality similar audiences;

• Improved recognition by Facebook of conversions on the site induced by campaigns, leading to a more accurate ROAS;

These benefits stem from more comprehensive and higher quality data acquisition (ad blocker evasion, extended cookie duration, data enrichment with first-party information, etc.).

Best practices for setting up server-side tracking

• Host your proxy server on a sub-domain of your site to avoid problems with third-party cookies.

• Prefer an A/AAAA DNS record for your server instead of the CNAME alias.

• Use a single client-side tag to transmit data to the proxy server and speed up loading.

• Use Cloudflare to easily bypass the new ITP. More info here.

• Bypass adblockers by redirecting the call to your main libraries, such as gtm.js, via a proxy (not forgetting your CMP library, Axeptio for example) to get around adblockers as best you can. Use tools such as Addingwell to make this easier.

• Improve your advertising by integrating first-party data, such as CRM data, to increase correspondence with advertising databases (the famous "matching rate" between users of the website concerned and users in the advertising network's database).