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Goodbye Cookies. So how do I analyse my visitors now?
Save the date. End of 2024. The most widely used tool for collecting your online browsing data will be shut down for good. Yes, we are talking about Cookies. Initially planned for 2022, Google has once again postponed the end of cookies to the end of 2024, giving the market more time to find alternative solutions. This is where Server Side Tagging comes into play. Stay with us and discover what Server Side Tagging can do for your website.
What is Server Side Tagging?
Unlike client-side tagging, where data is shared directly from the browser to an external server (for example, Google Analytics), in server-side tagging the data is sent/received between the browser used and the server, and is subsequently shared with external platforms, such as Google Tag Manager. In server-side tagging the tracking code is installed on the server (and not on the website). Whenever a website, or app, is accessed, the server-side container sends a tracking request to the server, which processes the request. This process allows tracking data to be captured before the page content is rendered, enabling a more accurate representation of user behaviour.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Server-Side Tagging
Server-side tagging is a more reliable, secure and controllable way of collecting and sharing information, making it more advantageous than client-side tagging. Discover its advantages and disadvantages now. Advantages
- Control of information: With server-side tagging you have complete control over who receives certain information, since each third party involved only has access to the information configured in the GTM tags and cannot collect any additional data.
- Better website performance. You can remove or reduce the Javascript running in the user's browser, thereby increasing page loading speed, user experience and ranking position.
- Cookie duration. If the tagging URL uses a custom subdomain, the server-side GTM will set first-party cookies. As a result, the way cookies are handled by the browser changes drastically, helping to avoid problems when the lifespan of third-party cookies decreases.
- Better accuracy and reliability. Since server-side tagging assigns cookies on a first-party basis and is more resistant to ad blockers and ITPs, these factors make server-side tagging more accurate than client-side.
Disadvantages Despite the advantages, server-side tagging also has some disadvantages.
- Cost. Unlike client-side, which is free, server-side carries the cost of acquiring the server.
- Harder to implement. The concept of server-side tagging is recent, so few people know how to implement it, and even fewer know how to do it correctly.
- A limited number of platforms that support server-side tagging. The most popular tagging and advertising platforms - such as Google, Facebook and TikTok - already support server-side tagging, with tag templates already available in the Google Tag Manager Gallery. However, there are many other platforms that do not yet support it.
Server-side tagging is a consent-focused solution geared towards the post-Cookies future which, despite having a higher implementation cost, offers a more sustainable ROI. Contact us and learn more about this new service, provided by Your Digital Agency. ?
