With the rapid development of advertising marketing, ad tracking performance has become more important. Effective ad monitoring lets marketers and PPC specialists optimize the budget spent, understand competitors’ strategies, and choose the one that works best for their business.
Over the past years, many methods to track ads have become popular (e.g., first-party tracking and cross-device tracking). In this article, we will review how you can monitor ad performance, privacy challenges, advanced tracking strategies, and more.
Ad tracking is the process of collecting data about users' interactions with online advertising campaigns. These campaigns can be run on various platforms, such as Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat, etc.
Ad tracking helps estimate the performance and effectiveness of advertisements. With such data, you can improve your Return on Investment (ROI), Profit on Ad Spend (POAS) and target the right audience. Also, advertising monitoring will let you understand the competitors' advertisement strategies, analyze them, and build a marketing plan that works for your website.
Ad monitoring uses UTM parameters, tracking cookies, and pixels to gather all the required data about users' interactions with ads. Users who visit your website see the cookie banner and can accept or decline cookies. If they accept, they can collect data.
When a user clicks on the URL with UTM parameters, the signal is sent to the tracking tool (e.g., Google Analytics) along with the parameter data (source, medium, campaign, content, and/or term).
Pixels are tiny, transparent images usually included in emails or on the website pages. When the page or email is opened, pixels can send data.
For advertising monitoring, you can also use server-side tracking. With this method, after viewing, clicking, or interacting with your ad in any other way, all the information is sent to your server, where you have greater control over data. Lastly, it is sent to the analytics tool.
UTM is a snippet of code added to the end of a page URL. It can contain a maximum of five parameters: source, medium, campaign, content, and term.
For example, the standard landing page URL will look like below:
http://www.website-example.com/landing-page-example/
And landing page URL with UTM code:
http://www.yourwebsite.com/your-landing-page/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc
| In some cases, UTM parameters can be removed, resulting in incorrect data in Google Analytics 4 reports. Check our article on how to avoid UTM removal to eliminate this problem. |
If you are running ad or email campaigns and would like to calculate the number of visits and conversions you get as a result of such digital marketing campaigns. Compared to other ways of setting up ad tracking, UTMs provide the least data recorded and serve to estimate the general performance of advertising campaigns.
Numerous UTM parameter builders are free to use and can be used to create links with UTM parameters.
Cookies can help gain more insights into users' behavior, as they can track all interactions across multiple sessions. In the context of ad tracking, cookies are used to create a profile of a person interested in a specific product or service being advertised. However, the cookies have some pitfalls (such as limited lifetime due to browser restrictions) that we consider in detail in the section below.
If you want to target the audience based on their browsing history, find people more likely interested in your product/service. The pitfall with cookies is that data can be lost due to browser restrictions, which shorten cookies' lifetime. The key challenge is prolonging cookies lifetime server-side tracking (which we review below in more detail) address this problem.
Cookies are gathered after you add tracking codes to your website's pages, such as the Google Tag Manager script.
Additionally, you must adhere to privacy regulations like GDPR and obtain consent from website visitors before collecting cookies.
| Check our guide on cookie banners to find out how to create a consent banner that complies with law regulations. |
Tracking pixels are small, transparent images embedded in emails or web pages that also track users' interactions with your content. Tracking pixels is the basic method of monitoring that advertising platforms offer. For example, Meta offers to add a pixel to a website to track events.
If you want to track the general data on events. The disadvantage of pixel tracking is that adblockers can block them, and the cookies they set are affected by browser restrictions. A more affective alternative to this method is server-side tracking.
Firstly, you need to choose the platform for running the ads and would like to implement tracking pixels. The most popular platforms are Google and Meta.
| Meta highly recommends using Facebook Pixel along with Conversion API. |
Similar to cookies, you need to obtain consent to comply with law regulations. A cookie banner serves this purpose; we have a detailed article on creating a compliant cookie banner in our blog post.
The methods described above for implementing ad tracking are client-side methods. While they have some benefits (e.g., free of charge, easy implementation), they also have drawbacks that affect the data quality you get.
The main benefit of server-side tracking over other methods is its resistance to browser restrictions and ad blockers. Stape provides a Custom Loader power-up that modifies the loading paths of gtag.js and gtm.js to protect tracking scripts from ad blockers. You will get more precise data compared to using third-party cookies.
In the context of ad performance tracking, more precise data will be essential to analyze which keywords, ads, or extensions are working better to get conversions and provide machine learning algorithms with more data on your goals (e.g., for Google Ads, you can try using Smart Bidding, which can pick the right audience based on the previous conversions).
Note: Although server-side tracking helps avoid the impact of ad blockers, it doesn't mean it is a way to bypass consent mode. You still need to configure consent mode in server GTM, add a compliant cookie banner to your website, and consult the legal department to comply with data regulations.
Besides, the significant perk of server-side tracking is the high control over the data processed on your server. This will help you ensure compliance with legal regulations while running ad campaigns and tracking their effectiveness.
| Server-side tracking has more advantages for website tracking and performance. Find out more about it in our article on the benefits of server-side tracking. |
Firstly, you need to choose the hosting for the server Google Tag Manager. The popular platform for GTM hosting is Google Cloud Platform. However, it may be too expensive to use, especially for small websites, with no free support, and requires a lot of manual actions to scale, monitor, and fix the GCP settings. In this case, you may consider Stape as the solution; we provide free hosting for websites that have up to 10,000 requests per month, autoscaling, numerous power-ups to improve your tracking, 24/7 support, and more benefits.
Secondly, you need to configure the server GTM container.
Finally, pick the platform you use for running ad campaigns and set up server-side tracking. We have detailed guides for the following:
The full list of GTM templates created by Stape can be found in the GTM templates category. You can also check the list of popular platforms for server-side tracking in our other blog post.
Using Conversions API Gateways for ad monitoring has similar advantages to server-side tracking. The key difference between CAPIGs and server-side tracking lies in scaling ability. In this term, server-side tracking is more flexible and allows the setting up of such tracking for most of the platforms. While CAPIGs are created and used for specific services. For example, Stape has developed the following Conversions API Gateways:
CAPIGs are the perfect solution if you are running ads only on one specific platform and looking for a cost-saving way to set up precise data tracking. Setting up CAPIGs is a quicker way to reach this goal.
Client-side tracking is a tricky way to monitor online ad performance, as tracking scripts can be affected by ad blockers, and you can lose user data. Studies show that around 26.5% of US citizens use ad blockers while surfing the web, and the percentage is increasing every year. In addition, ad blockers constantly improve their ability to find tracking scripts on a page and block them. Switching to server-side tracking is an effective way to reach this goal in terms of data completeness.
In addition, cookies are subject to browser restrictions, such as Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), which limits their lifespan to seven days and marketing cookies have a limit of only 1 day, even if they are set from a first-party domain. The Safari browser turns this option on by default.
For years, there were rumors about quitting third-party cookies for Chrome browsers. But in 2024, Google announced it would no longer pursue its plans to phase out third-party cookies. Nevertheless, third-party cookies seem to be neither the most stable nor the most reliable tracking method.
The basic and, in most cases, enough for advertising performance analysis is to estimate the campaigns with the data from admin accounts of platforms you use. However, it can be challenging to manage if you run ads on multiple platforms; in this case, tools such as GA4 can keep everything in place.
Google Analytics is the most popular tool for tracking ad performance. Its key advantage is that it is integrated with most ad networks. Although many users complained after Google Analytics UA sunset, GA4 remains a popular solution.
You can integrate Google Ads with GA4. In June 2024, Meta announced Beta Integration with GA4. This is a handy option for keeping all the data on ad performance in one place.
The most significant advantage of using Matomo is that no user data is sent to third-party services. Still, compared to GA4, Matomo may seem a "too raw" solution regarding functionality and metrics.
Uploading raw data from databases is the most complicated way, but it still provides advantages. For example, after releasing GA4, many users complained about the absence of past metrics and functionality that GA UA had. For such cases, raw data provides more flexibility. The drawback is structuring and working with raw data requires more advanced skills (such as creating SQL queries).
To monitor Google Ads competitors, you can use a free Google Ads Transparency Center tool. Here, you can filter by time, categories, countries, platforms, and topics and add specific websites. In this way, you will see the ads from your competitor.
Meta Ad Library lets you find all the ads posted on a specific topic or query in a particular country. You can see the competitors' ads and summary details on the result page.
LinkedIn Ad Library works similarly to the tools described above. You can add the filters and get all the ads published. Additionally, you can see the data on ad impressions by country and ad targeting info.
The TikTok Ad Library is the official TikTok tool that provides data on specific ads about gender, location, and gender of people whom the ad targeted. There is a TikTok Creative Center inside the TikTok Ad Library that provides more insights into the ads listing data about the number of impressions, clicks, and more.
Over the past few years, ad tracking has started switching to first-party tracking instead of third-party tracking scripts, and server-side tracking has become even more popular. In addition, last year, Google released its first-party mode, which allows you to deploy Google tags using your infrastructure.
That's a good strategy to try in 2025. Switching to first-party tracking will allow you to get complete, precise data on the marketing campaign's performance. For example, our client Procab Studio, which runs PPC campaigns, has noticed a 35% increase in purchases. Check our article on the impact of server-side tracking, provides details on the case study.
Cross-device tracking monitors the user activity across various devices (smartphones, PCs, tablets). It links user data from multiple devices using identifiers, such as unique device IDs, cookies, and login credentials.
In advertising, cross-device tracking helps businesses optimize their multi-platform advertising campaigns. Advertisers can create more relevant ads based on user behavior by analyzing customer interactions with their brands across different platforms.
Cross-device tracking also helps businesses improve their return on investment (ROI). Cross-device attribution enables marketers to assign credit accurately to each interaction across devices and channels, contributing to conversion.
| Find out more about cross-device tracking in our guide. |
Predictive analytics is an interesting approach to optimizing ad campaign performance. It includes search query analysis (e.g., identifying long-tailed keywords, targeting a high-valued audience, delivering a personalized approach to ad running, etc.). Predictive analytics uses statistical algorithms and machine learning to estimate the likelihood of outcomes.
For precise predictions about users' behavior, the AI model should be trained on a large dataset of historical data and analyze the target audience and campaign goals to generate the strategy. And still, it won't be perfect, so that's a long way, but it may be helpful to try in the long run.
| Related: In 2024, a new search engine, ChatGPT search, appeared, making marketers wonder how to optimize the website for the new tool. However, in terms of advertising, OpenAI’s Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has said that they are considering adding the option, but it isn't the goal in the near future. |
In 2025, the key challenge for ad monitoring and user data collection will remain the same as in the past few years: complying with emerging personal data law regulations. Well-known for all marketing specials, GDPR will continue to set standards for data regulation around the globe. Numerous data law regulations require users' consent, such as the CCPA in the USA, LGPD in Brazil, POPIA in South Africa, and PDPA in Singapore.
So, developing GDPR-compliant advertising tracking that complies with the other regulations becomes challenging if the business targets different locations.
Traditional tracking methods, such as third-party cookies, are becoming harder to control and make compliant with law regulations. That's the reason 2024 became a year of new features released by Google, such as first-party mode, which is similar to server-side tracking but still has some weaknesses, such as the ability to scale, ad blocker resistance, etc.
| See the comparison analysis of Google’s first-party mode and server-side tracking. |
Taking control over the data you collect is the key to monitoring ad performance compliantly. Server-side tracking is a good solution to use for this purpose.
Over the past few years, the market has offered other options for PPC specialists to track ad performance, including server-side tracking and Conversions APIs, and the general trend is to use first-party tracking instead of client-side tracking. It is no wonder that such a method of ad monitoring provides numerous benefits: more precise data tracking, more flexible tracking, greater control over data, and easier compliance with law regulations.
In terms of ad tracking, that’s the key trend that will shape the future of advertising monitoring.
Businesses use marketing data to estimate the performance of campaigns and decide on the budget for future campaigns.
You can see the competitors' ads with the help of Ad Libraries; there are such libraries for platforms: Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and TikTok. However, they usually don't provide data on impressions and clicks. For this purpose, you may try SimilarWeb or Semrush.
Cost tracking in advertising is the process of monitoring and analyzing the expenses of running ads on different platforms. It's essential for performance analysis and building further ad strategy.
You can do it for free at Stape! Click Try for free and explore the advantages!
