We're on the brink of the cookieless era: starting in January 2024, the initial 1% of users will encounter cookie deprecation, with complete phasing out anticipated by the third quarter of the year.
Cookies have long been relied upon for client-side tracking, offering valuable insights into user behavior and facilitating targeting, personalization, and campaign optimization. However, the impending demise of third-party cookies presents a significant obstacle. Here comes server-side tracking, a groundbreaking approach that circumvents cookie-related hurdles and paves the way for a future-proof data collection environment.
What Is Server-Side Tracking?
Server-side tracking is a method used by websites or applications to gather data about user interactions, behaviors, and preferences. Instead of collecting this information directly from the user's device (like their computer or phone), the data is sent to and processed by the server that hosts the website or application.
Why do you need it?
- Privacy and Security: Server-side tracking can be more secure and private because sensitive data isn't exposed to the user's device. This can help protect user privacy and prevent unauthorized access to personal information.
- Reliability: It can provide more accurate tracking data because it's not dependent on the user's device or browser settings. This helps ensure that the data collected is consistent and reliable.
- Scalability: Server-side tracking can handle larger volumes of data more efficiently, making it suitable for websites or applications with high traffic or complex tracking needs.
- Customization: It allows for more customization and control over how data is collected, processed, and stored. This can be useful for tailoring tracking methods to specific business requirements or compliance regulations.
What Does Cookie Deprecation Mean and When Does It Start?
First, let's explore the concept and function of cookies. These aptly named small files contain text containing various details (we'll delve into that shortly), including at least a name and a value.
When a visitor accesses your website, their browser saves this data through cookies, subsequently utilizing it to enhance and expedite future user sessions. Additionally, cookies have the capability to retain details about the visit, such as the device utilized, the browser type, and related online activities.
At this juncture, it's crucial to distinguish between several fundamental types of cookies:
- Session cookies: These cookies are retained solely for the duration of a website visit. Once the browser session concludes, they are automatically deleted. Particularly crucial in eCommerce, they facilitate retaining items in your cart while you explore other products.
- Persistent cookies: Unlike session cookies, these persist beyond the browsing session. Websites utilize them to gather user data for future visits, enhancing user experience by recalling details such as usernames and passwords. While they come with varying expiration dates, they cannot extend beyond six months.
- First-party cookies: These cookies are generated and stored by the website being visited. Similar to persistent cookies, they endure longer, aiding in enhancing user experience by memorizing settings like language preferences, cart contents, usernames, and locations. These cookies are typically deemed "essential" or "necessary" according to data privacy regulations.
- Third-party cookies: This category lies at the crux of the cookie deprecation issue. Originating from entities other than the visited website, typically advertisers, they're designed to track user activity across the web, attributing it to a website where an ad click occurred. These cookies are integral for user tracking and gauging the success of ad campaigns, tailoring ads across different websites based on user activity.
Understanding and managing these cookie types is pivotal, especially for WordPress users. Additionally, ensuring GDPR compliance for WordPress websites is imperative.
In 2023, Google disclosed its intention to gradually phase out third-party cookies in Chrome throughout 2024. Commencing on January 4th for 1% of users, this process is slated for completion by the third quarter of the year.
This initiative aligns Chrome with Safari and Firefox, browsers that have long blocked third-party cookies by default. Notably, Google announced it won't introduce any alternative user-level ad identifiers to supplant third-party cookies.
The aim of cookie deprecation is to address privacy concerns raised by users and regulators. Third-party cookies have the capacity to store sensitive personal information without users' explicit consent.
For the average user, this development is positive, as it curtails unwarranted tracking of browsing behavior and personal data for commercial gains. However, it presents challenges for advertisers and website owners alike, limiting tracking and targeting capabilities significantly.
What Will Happen With Tracking and Targeting?
Once the complete phase-out of cookies occurs, expected by Q3 2024, advertisers will lose the capability to target and retarget users based on their browsing history and interactions.
This translates to a significant reduction in their ability to tailor strategies using user data such as preferences, behaviors, and locations. Previously, this data informed ad strategies, ensuring ads were shown to users likely to engage with them. Ever wondered why you see numerous ads for used cars but few for luxury glamping vans (or vice versa, if you're fortunate)? Now you understand why.
Relying solely on first-party cookies hardly compensates for what advertisers and ad-running website owners will lose with cookie deprecation. First-party cookies have limited scope and reliability compared to their third-party counterparts.
One potential solution to the loss of cookie-based targeting capabilities is zero-party targeting, involving the direct collection of user data through surveys, forms, and loyalty programs, with user consent.
Another significant approach could be a resurgence of contextual targeting. Once a predominant method, contextual advertising lost favor but may now be poised for a comeback. Contextual advertising involves displaying ads relevant to the content of the page, offering increased relevancy and less intrusiveness compared to behavioral targeting.
There are various strategies advertisers can employ to navigate the gap left by the absence of cookies, with server-side tracking emerging as one of the most effective options.
What Is Server-Side Tracking Again?
As its name implies, server-side tracking (SST) involves collecting data directly on a cloud server rather than within the browser, which is characteristic of client-side tracking. SST can gather various data points such as page views, clicks, and downloads. The server processes, stores, and potentially enriches this data by integrating it with first-party data.
Solutions like Google Tag Manager Server-Side or similar tools further manage and organize the data, offering valuable analytics and marketing insights. Due to data being stored and processed on the server, SST is generally more secure than traditional client-side tracking, resulting in lower vulnerability to breaches and leaks.
The collected data is transmitted to end users such as data vendors, data collection partners, or analytics platforms. Importantly, this is first-party data under your control, allowing you to determine which data you share with vendors, thus enhancing privacy standards.
However, compared to client-side tracking, server-side tracking typically entails slower data connections and is more complex and costly to set up and maintain. In many cases, it requires specialized expertise that may not be readily available in-house but can be outsourced easily.
Furthermore, server-side tracking enhances site performance by reducing or eliminating JavaScript running in the user's browser, resulting in faster load times, improved user experience, and potentially better search engine rankings.
Lastly, server-side tracking offers greater accuracy. Unlike client-side tracking, which can be thwarted by users with ad blockers or restrictive tracking settings, SST remains unaffected by such measures. With more precise data, informed decisions can be made, and strategies can be shaped effectively.
Example: Server-Side Tracking and WordPress
For example, integration of server-side tagging with any WordPress website is straightforward, although it's not a built-in feature. As is customary, plugins offer the solution by automating the process and streamlining integration.
For example, the GTM Server Side plugin by Stape is a user-friendly, complimentary plugin that assists in appending or modifying the web GTM (Google Tag Manager) script with the tagging server URL across all website pages. It seamlessly operates alongside any other GTM plugin, introducing a customized loader. This feature is pivotal as it conceals GTM and GA tracking from ad blockers, enhancing tracking accuracy. Furthermore, the plugin enhances page speed by dispatching events to GTM sans any JS library. It also facilitates the transmission of data layer events (including eCommerce and user data) and webhooks.
It's essential to note that there's no single plugin that comprehensively manages tracking setup. Novices are encouraged to seek assistance from experts to ensure proper event setup and configuration of server-side tagging and tracking for their WordPress website. This advice holds especially true for WooCommerce websites (online shops) where precise tracking and attribution are indispensable for bolstering sales.
Even if additional costs are incurred for the technical and resource requirements associated with implementing server-side tracking in WordPress, the benefits are substantial. Server-side tracking enhances ad revenue potential, fosters GDPR compliance, and fortifies tracking capabilities for the future.
Wrapping It Up
In adapting to the cookieless future and ensuring effective online advertising, server-side tracking emerges as a crucial component. Traditional client-side tracking is no longer sufficient, necessitating the adoption of server-side tagging to optimize ad and marketing strategies.
While it may pose challenges for beginners and entail some expenses, the setup and configuration costs are essentially one-time investments. With a modest level of expertise, implementing this method on your WordPress website is achievable through the use of free plugins, such as those available at thelematics.com SEO services.
Server-side tracking is poised to revolutionize the online advertising landscape by offering valuable advantages that address current limitations. From circumventing ad blockers and addressing privacy concerns to providing greater control over data, yielding richer and more precise insights, and enhancing overall performance, the benefits of server-side tracking are too significant to overlook.