Server-side tag management: take control of your customer data
Increasingly strict GDPR and privacy regulations are making it more difficult to collect and effectively leverage tracking data via Google, Facebook, and other channels. How can you maintain control over your customer data while ensuring your measurements remain reliable? With server-side tag management, you regain control over your first-party data and decide how and which data is shared. In this insight, you will learn how it works and what it delivers for your organization.
What is server-side tag management?
Within e-commerce platforms, tags in the data layer are used to capture events. These events influence processes that ensure your webshop visitors have an optimal experience. The data from these events is typically sent directly to platforms such as Google and Facebook. With server-side tagging, however, this data is first routed to your own server. Only then is it forwarded to external channels via API integrations. This means your own server sits between the visitor and external data collectors, acting as a filter and privacy gatekeeper.
Maximize control over collecting and activating customer data
Ensure you make the most of your customer data
As GDPR and privacy regulations continue to tighten, requirements for cookie management and consent are becoming increasingly strict. This makes it more challenging to use tracking data for platforms such as Facebook, Google Ads, and Criteo. That is why it is essential to take control of your own first-party data—deciding for yourself how this data is used and shared with external channels. Server-side tagging is the way to fully leverage your customer data and move away from third-party cookies.
XSARUS supports you in this process using Google’s tag management system: Server-side Google Tag Manager (SSGTM).
How do we implement SSGTM?
Step 1: Set up the SSGTM container, including a dedicated cloud server infrastructure.
Step 2: Configure the SSGTM container with the required clients, tags, and variables for Google Analytics 4.
Step 3: Implement server-side tracking for marketing channels such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Google Ads, based on the data stream configured for Google Analytics 4 in the previous step.
Step 4: Configure Google and cookie consent in accordance with GDPR. Set up a bot detector to create an additional layer of protection against spam, and implement a proxy for the GTM web container to ensure site speed is not affected.
Step 5: Configure enhanced transaction measurements to close the conversion gap between the e-commerce platform and Google Analytics 4.
This may sound technical and complex, but we handle the process together and ensure you are fully supported from start to finish.
What are the benefits of SSGTM?
Server-side tracking is a logical next step in the evolution of tracking. Why should you adopt it? You gain greater control over your own first-party data. It reduces the impact of tracking prevention and enables more measurement through first-party cookies. This improves data flows to analytics tools, protects against misuse, and provides greater control over bot and spam traffic. In addition, you reduce client-side JavaScript traffic, which positively impacts your shop’s speed and overall user experience.
Plenty of advantages to consider. It’s time to introduce SSGTM into your organization!