As marketing analysts, advertising agency owners, and advertisers, you are constantly searching for effective and efficient ways to monitor user activity and gather data to improve your services. One such technique that has gained traction in recent years is server-side tagging. In fact, server-side tagging is a must-have for the cookie-less internet.

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Despite not being a new concept, server-side tagging has been gaining popularity in recent years, thanks to its numerous advantages over traditional client-side tracking methods. Before you take a decision regarding its implementation, it is essential to understand the purpose and benefits of server-side tagging, and how it can revolutionize the way we collect, analyze, and optimize data for our businesses.

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In this article, we will explore what server-side tagging is, its basics, its technical aspects, and a real-life example to illustrate its applications and impact. We'll also discuss how it addresses some of the most critical issues in the digital advertising and marketing industry, from data accuracy to privacy compliance. 

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Let us learn how server-side tagging will put accuracy, reliability, and privacy at the heart of digital marketing and analytics:

What Is Server-Side Tagging?

Server-side tagging (SST) is an alternate technique for monitoring user activity and gathering statistics to improve service by embedding tags, scripts, or snippets of code into a website or mobile application. 

Snapshot: Server-Side Tagging Explained In Simple Words

Like client-side tracking, SST involves embedding tags, scripts, or snippets of code into a website or mobile application. However, SST has a crucial difference - it involves a cloud server container in the process, which takes control away from third parties like Google and Facebook and hands it to you, the website owner or operator.

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In simple words, the fundamental concept is identical to that of client-side tracking but with one key difference: a cloud server container is inserted into the loop.

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Rather than sending event data directly to analytics services, SST sends data first to a server-side Google Tag Manager (sGTM) and then to the chosen analytics services. This approach ensures that the code is executed on the server rather than in the user's browser, reducing page load times and safeguarding sensitive user information.

Server-Side Tagging Explained For Marketing Analysts And Advertisers

Server-side tagging emulates client-side tracking to a large extent, with the primary difference being the addition of a cloud server between the client and the tag manager. Google Tag Manager's Server-Side Tagging allows businesses to move measurement and advertising tags off their websites and into secure server containers. This not only protects customer information by restricting access but also helps increase conversion rates by reducing page load times.

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With the integration of Server-Side Tagging into various Google products and services, businesses can now move more tags off their websites and achieve better site performance. Server-Side Tagging is compatible with any cloud or server provider that supports Docker—an open-source platform for developing and running applications—and is now generally available to all customers in Google Tag Manager and Google Tag Manager 360.

Support For More Google Advertising Products

Google has extended Server-Side Tagging support to include Google Ads and Google Marketing Platform products like Campaign Manager 360, Display & Video 360, and Search Ads 360. Previously, businesses had to use a separate client-side tag for each marketing product, which ran directly on their websites.

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Now, a single client-side tag can activate multiple tags for these products directly in the server container when customers interact with a website. This results in fewer tags on the site, improving page load times and overall site performance.

Understanding The Technicalities Of Server-Side Tagging

Google Tag Manager has introduced a new Server container type that resides in a Google Cloud environment with server-side tagging. The primary purpose of this setup is to create an endpoint in a server environment that you own, acting as a proxy between the hits sent from browsers and devices and the actual endpoints that collect the hits.

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The Server container operates as an HTTP API endpoint, allowing any browser, device, or other sources supporting the HTTP protocol to send requests. Ideally, this endpoint would be mapped with a custom subdomain in the same domain hierarchy as the website sending the requests. This ensures that requests happen in a first-party context, significantly impacting how cookies can be read and written, for example.

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Within the Server container, workers called Clients are configured to listen for incoming HTTP requests, parse them into a unified event format, and run a virtual container with the event data object. Tags, triggers, and variables in the container react to the event push in a manner similar to how they would with a "regular" Google Tag Manager. Tags take the information in these event data objects and build the actual requests that are sent to the endpoints, like Google Analytics or Google Ads, for data collection and processing.

Objectives For Implementing Server-Side Tagging

As the digital world continues to evolve, the need for efficient, secure, and reliable ways to manage data and optimize website performance has become increasingly important. Server-side tagging is a powerful solution that can address these needs. In this article, we will provide an elaborate explanation of why server-side tagging is essential for modern websites and applications.

1. Performance Optimization

One of the primary needs for server-side tagging arises from the necessity to optimize website and application performance. When tags are executed on the client-side, they can increase page load times and negatively impact user experience. By moving tag processing to the server-side, the burden on the client-side is reduced, resulting in faster page load times and a smoother user experience.

2. Improved Security And Data Privacy

Data privacy and security concerns have taken center stage in recent years, with regulations like GDPR and CCPA shaping how businesses handle user data. Server-side tagging enhances security and data privacy by allowing sensitive information to be processed on the server rather than exposing it on the client-side. This ensures that data is less vulnerable to unauthorized access and manipulation, providing a safer and more compliant environment for handling user data.

3. Enhanced Data Management anyd Consistency

Managing and maintaining data consistency across multiple platforms and tools can be challenging. Server-side tagging simplifies this process by centralizing tag management and execution. By processing data on the server-side, you can ensure that your data is consistent and accurate across different marketing and analytics tools. This, in turn, leads to more informed decision-making and a better understanding of your audience and campaigns.

4. Easier Maintenance And Scalability

As websites and applications grow and evolve, so does the complexity of managing tags and associated code. Server-side tagging makes maintenance and scalability easier by centralizing tag management. By offloading tag processing to the server, you can update or modify tags without directly impacting the client-side code, reducing the risk of errors and making it easier to manage your tags as your business grows.

5. Adapting To Browser Changes

Modern web browsers are constantly evolving, and some of these changes can have significant implications for tag management. For example, browsers like Safari and Firefox have implemented tracking prevention features that can impact the functionality of client-side tags. Server-side tagging helps you adapt to these changes by processing tags on the server, ensuring consistent tag execution across different browsers and minimizing the impact of browser updates on your data collection and tracking efforts.

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In today's rapidly changing digital landscape, server-side tagging has become a crucial tool for optimizing performance, ensuring data privacy and security, and simplifying data management. By moving tag processing from the client-side to the server-side, businesses can improve user experience, comply with data protection regulations, and streamline their tag management efforts. As a result, server-side tagging has emerged as an essential component of modern website and application development.

Server-Side Tagging: Technical Aspects

In this section, we will understand the technical aspects of the terms used in server-side tagging:

The Role Of The Server-Side Container

The server-side container functions as a proxy, relaying information between browsers and devices and the real endpoints that receive the data. It serves as a protective data filter between your consumers and third-party suppliers seeking to monitor data. Since it functions as an HTTP API endpoint, any client browser, device, or other sources capable of communicating over the HTTP protocol can send requests to the server-side container itself. With server-side tagging, data is first delivered to a server-side Google Tag Manager (sGTM) container, and then sent to the analytics services of your choice, as opposed to sending event data directly to analytics services.

Clients And Workers

Workers and Clients are Docker images with distinct roles and this case they are set up inside the Server container to listen for incoming HTTP requests. They parse these requests into a common event structure and then run a virtual container with the event data object. The tags, triggers, and variables respond to the event push in a similar way to "normal" Google Tag Manager.

Communicating With The Server-Side Container

As mentioned earlier, the server-side container functions as an HTTP API endpoint, allowing any client browser, device, or other source that can communicate over the HTTP protocol to send queries to the server-side container itself. Inside the server container, workers (Docker images) called Clients are set up to listen for these incoming HTTP requests, which they then parse into a common event structure. The clients then run a virtual container with the event data object, and the tags, triggers, and variables respond to the event push in a manner similar to "normal" Google Tag Manager.

First-Party Context And Subdomains

Practically, the endpoint for the server-side container would be mapped with a custom subdomain that is part of the same domain hierarchy as the website submitting the queries. This ensures that the correct information is returned, and most ad blockers and browsers currently do not impose tag-based restrictions on first-party subdomains. The fact that the requests are handled in this manner causes them to be treated as having taken place in a first-party context, which has significant implications, such as how cookies can be read and written.

A Simplified Example Of Server-Side Tagging in Action

Imagine an e-commerce website called Toto Tools that wants to track user behavior and improve its marketing strategy. With server-side tagging, the Toto Tools will be able to set up a server-side container that would act as a proxy between the users' browsers and the analytics services. As users interact with the website, their activity data is sent to the server-side container, which processes the data and forwards it to the chosen analytics services. This allows the website owner to gain valuable insights without compromising the users' browsing experience or their data privacy.

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Server-side tagging will also enable Toto Tools to filter and customize the data before sending it to third-party services. For example, it can remove sensitive information, aggregate data to protect user privacy, or enrich the data with additional context from the server or other data sources. This ensures that only relevant and compliant data is sent to analytics services, making it more actionable and valuable for marketing purposes.

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By communicating these privacy and online safety benefits, Toto Tools can win the trust of its customers and build long-term relationships with them.

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Key Benefits Of Server-Side Tagging

Let us go through the advantages of server-side tagging:

Improved Website Performance

Server-side tagging executes code on the server rather than in the user's browser, which can reduce the amount of time it takes for a page to load while still protecting important information qqabout the user.

Increased Data Control

SST takes control away from third parties like Google and Facebook and gives it to the first party, which is you, the website owner or operator. It does this by hosting both the website and its users' data on a single, secure central server controlled by the website owner as a part of the tag management process.

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By using server-side tagging, you, the website owner or operator, regain control over your data. Thus, SST allows you to host both your website and user data on a single, secure central server under your control, taking power away from third parties like Google and Facebook.

Protective Data Filter

The server-side container functions as a proxy, relaying information between browsers and devices and the actual endpoints that receive the data. This setup creates a protective data filter between your users and third-party suppliers looking to track data.

Enhanced Privacy And Security

As data is filtered through the server-side container, it serves as a protective layer between users and third-party vendors seeking to collect data. This can help to ensure that sensitive user information is protected and handled responsibly.

Better First-Party Data Access

Server-side tagging allows you to maintain a first-party context for cookies and other storage mechanisms. This can help circumvent limitations imposed by privacy regulations and browser restrictions, ensuring more accurate tracking and measurement.

Scalability

Server-side tagging solutions are often more scalable than their client-side counterparts. This is because they rely on cloud-based infrastructure that can quickly adapt to changing traffic volumes.

Versatile HTTP API Endpoint

Since server-side tagging operates as an HTTP API endpoint, any client browser, device, or other sources capable of communicating over the HTTP protocol can send requests to the server-side container itself.

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Read more about the benefits of server-side tagging.

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Summing Up

Server-side tagging is a powerful technique for monitoring user activity and gathering data to improve your services. By understanding the basics, technical aspects, and terminology associated with server-side tagging, you can make informed decisions about whether this approach is suitable for your business.

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It is noteworthy that its implementation may require technical expertise and careful planning to ensure a successful transition.

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Try Tagmate for free! 

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