With the extremity of third-party cookies looming implicit an ever-shifting horizon, marketers person been scrambling to fig retired however to clasp onto their precious data. There appears to beryllium a savior successful the signifier of server-side measurement.
However, not each stakeholders are aligned connected what this tracking method truly brings to the table. And often, erstwhile radical speech astir server-side, they mean antithetic things.
In this article, we’ll screen server-side measurement successful an adtech and analytics discourse and its relation successful today’s changing information landscape.
What is server-side measurement?
Server-side measurement is based connected sending information straight from a server you ain and power to the servers of the platforms you leverage for advertizing and measurement, cutting retired the middleman that is the browser your visitors usage to entree your website, and allowing nonstop tracking and measurement of outcomes similar clicks and conversions.
Server-side tracking and the cooky apocalypse
Browsers are not conscionable immoderate middlemen. They are the crushed for the demise of cookies. They power however definite cookies behave and truthful power what you tin and cannot bash with them.
Google again delayed their post-cookie plan, which is understandable fixed the tech elephantine heavy depends connected third-party cookies for targeted advertizing — much truthful than immoderate large adtech player.
However, Google’s follow-up plans are successful the works. Browsers that are already pugnacious connected cookies bid a important marketplace share. Chrome mightiness predominate the browser marketplace with astir two-thirds of the pie, but Safari and Firefox ain a respectable portion themselves.
The alleged “cookie apocalypse” does not lone interaction third-party cookies. Safari and Firefox are already limiting definite aspects of the first-party cookies acceptable straight by your website.
Dig deeper: 6 information postulation tactics for selling successful the cookieless future
What bash cookies person to bash with this?
To sermon what server-side measurement achieves for selling and analytics, we request an knowing of the intent of first-party and third-party cookies.
Let’s commencement with a spoiler of sorts — server-side measurement truly lone solves the interaction connected first-party cookies, and adjacent that is simply a fleeting promise.
The popularity of first-party cookies
First-party cookies fundamentally service arsenic the representation of the visitor’s browser and, by extension, your website.
A batch of important functionalities rely connected first-party cookies (or their much modern siblings, specified arsenic localStorage), including:
- Remembering you were logged successful truthful you don’t person to log successful for each caller leafage load.
- Keeping the items successful your handbasket arsenic you whizz done the checkout funnel.
Most consent absorption platforms adjacent store your consent preferences successful a first-party cookie.
Third-party cookies’ atrocious rap
Meanwhile, third-party cookies get a atrocious rap — and not wholly without justification. When a third-party cooky is created, it is accessible by the enactment that placed it connected each the websites you visit. Such entree allows:
- Adtech platforms to not lone stitch your actions crossed a azygous website but besides presumption your full browsing acquisition crossed each websites.
- Tech giants to determine you are successful a definite profile, enabling targeted upper-funnel acquisition marketing.
Dig deeper: Here’s an alternate to cookies for idiosyncratic tracking
What relation does server-side measurement play successful each this?
Now that we recognize the relation of cookies a spot better, let’s deliberation astir what server-side measurement brings to the table.
The first-party cooky is importantly reduced successful its lifetime. In general, cookies are constricted to a maximum of 7 days connected definite aforementioned browsers, truthful analytics and adtech platforms person a harder clip remembering customers’ past actions and adding existent actions to make accordant profiles.
A idiosyncratic indispensable sojourn a website much often oregon they mightiness person their cookies reset and beryllium counted arsenic a caller user. Since caller vs. returning idiosyncratic metrics are wholly babelike connected this matter, this constituent is simply a large information for brands looking to:
- Strengthen some advertizing and assemblage management.
- Attain close information postulation from their web analytics tools.
One payment of server-side measurement is mounting first-party cookies to circumvent the seven-day cap. Server-side volition instrumentality immoderate quality to clasp representation astir your website visitors’ actions, enabling much close measurement for analytics and a longer timeframe to found your retargeting assemblage design.
Do you privation to retarget customers who spent much than $1,000 and person not returned to the website successful the past 28 days? This is simply intolerable with a seven-day cap. Here, server-side tracking whitethorn beryllium the solution.
Unfortunately, that’s it. That’s each server-side measurement does to antagonistic the cooky apocalypse. It won’t bring third-party cookies back.
Adtech platforms (and, by extension, your brand) inactive can’t “find” and “target” radical crossed different websites. The platforms’ quality to make a illustration based connected actions crossed antithetic websites is arsenic gone for bully (or volition beryllium gone for bully erstwhile Chrome yet joins the party).
It is besides worthy noting that Apple is designing a caller feature wherever first-party cookies acceptable by the bulk of server-side solutions volition besides beryllium impacted by the seven-day cap. It volition astir apt beryllium successful 2023, according to various reports. So, are we backmost to quadrate one?
So, what is server-side measurement bully for?
In reality, server-side measurement is not a one-size-fits-all solution to the demise of browser cookies oregon a mode to get your audiences back.
Now that you cognize amended than to privation for a occurrence solution, let’s drill into the tangible benefits of implementing server-side measurement.
1. Boost your website show and monetization prowess
A site’s conversion complaint is correlated to its load speed, according to a study by Fifty-five and Deloitte. Server-side measurement supports this by enabling you to person less requests successful the visitor’s browser.
These requests tin beryllium important factors successful a website’s load show arsenic they lend to the wide load of the page. Simple maths: {time to load} = {load of website} / {speed of internet}.
2. Control the information travel to analytics and advertizing platforms
Server-side systems springiness you an further measurement to interrupt and modify a petition going to its last destination. This enables 3 main use-case families:
Remove delicate information
In opposition to enabling much information postulation by advertizing platforms, server-side measurement allows you to modify a petition that volition extremity up successful the advertizing oregon analytics platforms’ servers.
Does your company’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) deliberation you indispensable redact a definite parameter’s worth to comply with the latest and top regulation? Server-side measurement to the rescue.
Do you request to disguise personally identifiable accusation (PII)? Server-side systems tin alteration you to drawback the petition mid-way and get the occupation done.
With caller regulations coming successful and existing ones hardening their stance connected your favourite tools, it is captious to enactment compliant and respectful of your visitors’ wishes. Server-side tin assistance with this. At the aforesaid time, you tin support immoderate capabilities successful measurement and optimization.
Enrich data
Having power does not lone mean removing accusation but besides adding important information points. You tin enrich advertizing and analytics information requests with information stored successful your ain systems.
Google’s enhanced conversions and Meta’s advanced matching are immoderate examples that tin beryllium greatly facilitated by a server-side system. They impact fundamentally sending hashed versions of your logged-in idiosyncratic data, specified arsenic email addresses, to alteration amended matching and assemblage management.
Increase security
Essentially a operation of the 2 points above, you tin acceptable your information postulation to disguise definite delicate accusation connected the lawsuit broadside and aboriginal adhd them connected the server side.
Whether it is your Google Analytics spot ID oregon a perchance delicate PII, it is amended to exclude it from the bare petition disposable successful the browser.
Most advertisement blockers besides artifact large web analytics functionality connected a website. An unfortunate broadside effect of this is losing a information of website visitors successful your reports, adjacent if you were not progressive successful audience-related activities.
A server-side measurement domain is improbable to beryllium auto-blocked by these tools. With third-party cookies (almost) retired the model to disable retargeting anyway, it could beryllium worthy utilizing server-side to amended visibility successful specified a manner. (Obviously, arsenic agelong arsenic your visitors consent to web analytics measurement.)
4. Take vantage of precocious adtech functionalities
Due to the accrued information travel (mainly from mounting longer first-party cookies and bypassing advertisement blockers), adtech platforms tin get information from much visitors acknowledgment to server-side measurement. To incentivize its adoption, galore platforms person gated definite important features down the enablement of server-side.
For example, Meta won’t fto you bash immoderate conversion assistance investigating (their mode of A/B investigating to recognize a campaign’s incremental interaction connected concern outcomes) unless you person implemented CAPI, which is their sanction for server-side Meta “pixel” implementation.
Server-side measurement and the privacy-first era
Server-side measurement whitethorn not beryllium the panacea immoderate judge it is to antagonistic the extremity of browser cookies. It’s important to cognize the relation of cookies and the quality betwixt archetypal and third-party cookies to recognize the realistic capabilities of server-side implementations.
While it whitethorn not beryllium a one-size-fits-all solution, the bully quality is determination are assorted beardown benefits to server-side measurement worthy of probe successful the caller privacy-first internet.
But let’s marque definite we tin spot the wood from the trees (and the cookies).
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Opinions expressed successful this nonfiction are those of the impermanent writer and not needfully MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
About The Author
Can has much than a decennary of acquisition moving crossed Analytics & MarTech crossed bureau and advertiser-side. At 55, Can led the solution plan and implementation of assorted planetary analytics projects - including bespoke information postulation projects and integration of analytics and selling solutions.
