In this blog post, we explore server-side tagging with Google Tag Manager (GTM). Unlike traditional client-side tracking, server-side GTM processes tags on a server, enhancing performance, security, and data accuracy. This approach also helps maintain user privacy by limiting third-party script access.
As data privacy regulations become stricter and tracking technologies evolve, server-side tagging offers a robust solution for modern digital marketing needs. Let's dive into how this technology works and why it's essential for your website.
Server-side tracking is the data collection method that captures info about user interactions on a dedicated server instead of browsers (like client-side tracking does). With server-side tracking, you can capture event data that won't be affected by ad blockers and browser restrictions, providing better data accuracy.
Besides high data quality, server-side tagging also offers privacy and control over the data you track, since after capturing, you can modify it and only then send to analytics tools such as Google Analytics 4 or Google Ads.
| Check the detailed explanation of server-side tracking and how you can benefit from setting it up in our article on what is server-side tracking. |
There are two ways to collect data: client-side and server-side, both with their benefits and challenges. Traditional tag management, analytics systems, and advertising services collect data using the client-side tracking method. How does it work? With client-side tracking, the browser sends a request directly to a third-party tracking service like Google Analytics. The interaction takes place between two parties: the browser and a third-party service.
With server-side tracking, an intermediate point is added. In this case, it is the Google Tag Manager cloud server. The request first goes to the cloud server, which processes it and sends it to a third-party system (Google Analytics). This means the cloud server processes the request instead of the client's browser, reducing the load on the client-side.
Here is a visualization of how server-side tracking works:
A web Google Tag Manager container is a Google Tag Manager environment that runs on the client-side within a user's web browser. It enables the deployment and management of tags (like analytics and marketing scripts) on a website without directly altering the site’s code.
A server GTM container is a component of Google Tag Manager's server-side tagging environment. It runs on a server instead of the client's browser. Handling tag processing and data collection server-side helps improve performance, security, and data accuracy.
A popular use case for a server GTM container is working with analytics tags. Instead of loading Google Analytics tags directly on the client's browser, the website sends data to the server GTM container.
Over recent years, data privacy regulations have become progressively stricter, and tracking-preventing technologies have also become more advanced. For instance, Safari and Firefox have already implemented Intelligent Tracking Algorithms that can block trackers. Safari has built-in Intelligent Tracking Prevention algorithms that cut cookies’ lifetime to 24 hours (most of the time).
What’s more, starting on January 4th, 2024, Chrome restricted third-party cookies for 1% of its Stable users. Chrome’s timeline indicates a significant shift in Q1 2025, with the start of the third-party cookie phaseout for all users. It all comes down to this: digital advertising methods reliant on third-party cookies to target consumers might become ineffective or even stop working altogether.
One more point to mention here is privacy and data regulations. Numerous privacy concerns have been growing over the last years, so marketers and business owners expect the ITP technology to spread across all popular browsers and devices.
Different data protection regulations were developed in response to citizens' privacy concerns. First, there is GDPR. According to the GDPR, cookies qualify as personal data since they are used to identify users. So, GDPR cookie consent compliance is a must. GDPR is complemented by the ePrivacy Directive and ePrivacy Regulation, which also determine what user data you can collect and how you can process and store it.
How can you prepare for Intelligent Tracking Prevention while complying with the ever-stricter data regulations? How can you move from using third-party cookies to first-party cookies?
The answer is - to integrate the Google Tag Manager server-side container. If you set up GTM server-side on your website, AdBlockers and ITPs won’t be able to find your tracking technologies, leading to better data quality. Server-side tracking lets you send data securely from your website server to various marketing platforms through APIs and SDKs.
Below are the top five benefits of SGTM:
These are only the top advantages of the GTM server container. We have a blog post on our blog covering all the benefits of server-side tracking in detail.
To set up server-side tracking using Google Tag Manager (GTM), you need both a server container and a web container, which serve distinct purposes and complement each other.
The web container is responsible for managing and deploying tags on your website. It collects data from user interactions on your website (e.g., page views and clicks) and sends it to your server container. The web container holds the client-side tags, triggers, and variables that capture events and user information from your website.
On the other hand, the server container processes and forwards the data received from the web container to your desired endpoints (e.g., Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel) in a secure and controlled way. It acts as an intermediary between the web container and third-party services.
The server container gets data from the web container, processes it, and then sends it to the analytics and marketing platforms you set up. This setup helps to protect user privacy and improve data accuracy by handling data processing on your server instead of directly in the browser. A hybrid server-side and client-side tagging implementation offers higher data control and longer cookie lifespans.
To set up the GTM server-side on your own, you need to know how Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Google Cloud, and web technology in general work. Plus, your development team needs to be involved in this process, especially if you want to test it in the production environment.
Server GTM is arguably the best option for server-side tagging solutions among all tools. The main reason for this is that web GTM is free. What’s more, sGTM is cheaper than most of its competitors. Due to the community gallery, the number of integrations in sGTM is massive.
We created a tool to help you set up a GTM server-side container within minutes. It can be hosted either on your subdomain or our subdomain. The benefit of hosting it on a custom subdomain within the same top-level domain is that all requests will be considered a first-party cookie and prevent data loss. A proper server-side setup can improve data accuracy and website performance.
There’s a detailed guide on how to set up server-side tracking with the Stape service on our blog.
Here is an example of steps needed to start server-side tracking with Stape:
Step 1. Create a stape.io account.
You might also want to set up the following options:
A bunch of tracking and advertising platforms support server-side tracking. You can find a list of platforms supporting Google Tag Manager server-side tagging and links to documentation on how to implement it on our blog as well.
Google Cloud Platform offers a free test environment that effectively manages server-side tagging. However, to integrate it into production, you must pay a minimum of $120/month + additional fees that depend on the website traffic.
Stape has a range of pricing plans to choose from: free, pro, business, enterprise and custom. Our free plan lets you get up to 10,000 requests per month. There is also a pricing calculator on our website that lets you figure out which plan is right for your site.
Is server-side tracking worth trying? We believe the answer is absolutely YES if you want to collect data about your website visitors using advanced technology in a privacy-compliant way.
When it comes to GTM server-side vs. client-side, the server-side option has numerous advantages at the onset of the cookieless era. With server-side tracking, you get more accurate data collection and conversion tracking, complete data control, and faster website load. You can gather more data efficiently and get insights client-side tracking could never provide. Most importantly, server-side GTM helps you stay compliant and treat customer data responsively. Arguably, compliance is a very important aspect of a business's reputation in customers' eyes.
If you have any questions about sending data to the server side in GTM, our team of experts can help!
All it takes is a few simple questions. Click Get A Quote, fill up the form, and we will send you a quote.
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