The secret to a successful Server-Side Transition in 2024: Addingwell's expertise and internalization

With the 2024 deadline marking the end of third-party cookies on Chrome, the digital marketing landscape is on the brink of a revolution. This transition, far from being a mere technical challenge, raises a fundamental question: how to continue collecting and analyzing data effectively and compliantly? One of the answers lies in adopting Server-Side Tracking, a crucial strategy for navigating this changing environment.

The reality of Server-Side Tracking

Historically, cookie-based tracking has been the cornerstone of user tracking on the web. However, with increasing privacy requirements and technical limitations imposed by browsers, tracking must evolve to survive. Server-Side Tracking represents this necessary evolution. By offloading data collection and processing from the user's browser to the server, this approach offers a myriad of benefits: enhanced compliance, improved web performance, and more reliable and secure data collection.

The transition to Server-Side Tracking is not just a technical adaptation; it's a strategic transformation. This change enables more robust data collection, less susceptible to ad blockers or browser limitations, while ensuring enhanced compliance with global regulations such as GDPR. Additionally, this approach significantly enhances the quality of collected data, providing a more accurate and actionable view for marketers.

Choosing the right Path: Expertise vs Hosting

Implementing Server-Side Tracking goes beyond the choice between in-house solutions and outsourcing. Companies must consider costs, required technical expertise, and the ability to maintain and evolve these solutions. The decision involves a careful evaluation of the hosting platform and available technical expertise, highlighting that the real challenge lies in balancing expertise and hosting.

Essentials for a successful Server-Side project

For a successful transition to Server-Side, several key elements must be in place:

• Robust Infrastructure: Ensuring the robustness of your infrastructure is crucial to guarantee the integrity of data collection. In an e-commerce context where data is essential for decision-making, reliable infrastructure is indispensable, especially during critical moments such as sales or Black Friday for example. Proper management of traffic spikes is vital to prevent any interruption or data loss that could render the project critical.
• Specialized technical expertise: Since the launch of GTM Server-Side over two years ago, the field has demanded constant monitoring and research. The rapid evolution of technology requires thoughtful consideration and thorough analysis to select the most suitable solutions. Having dedicated technical expertise is essential for navigating effectively in this ever-changing environment.
• Adapted Tag Management System: Over time, migration to Server-Side will become the norm for all marketing tools. The main goal is to ensure interoperability between these tools. GTM is the most widely used tag management system (TMS), so mastering it is essential to ensure current and future compatibility with market tools. Addingwell offers full compatibility with GTM, ensuring smooth and efficient integration.

Selecting partners with specific Server-Side expertise is crucial to ensure a smooth and effective transition.

Common mistakes

Many companies underestimate the importance of hosting infrastructure or neglect the need for continuous technological vigilance. These mistakes can compromise the effectiveness of the transition to Server-Side. Here are the top three most common errors that can hinder the success of a Server-Side project:

• 502 error - Server overload: Opting for infrastructure that does not adequately respond to requirements can lead to 502 errors during activity peaks. This situation, resulting from excessive and sudden load on the site, causes a temporary server interruption, resulting in a pause in data collection and a deterioration of the user experience. The direct impact of this error on return on investment underscores the crucial importance of reliable infrastructure.

• Non-resilience to Safari 16.4: Ignoring browser updates, such as Safari 16.4, can significantly decrease your ability to track users effectively, resulting in a potential loss of up to 50% of your traffic in the case of the Safari update.

• Lack of monitoring: Without an effective monitoring system, identifying and resolving tracking issues quickly becomes a real headache. This gap can lead to marketing decisions based on incomplete or erroneous data.

The adoption of Server-Side Tracking is not limited to selecting robust infrastructure; it encompasses a series of crucial strategic and operational decisions for long-term success. Two common mistakes illustrate the complexity and necessity of a holistic approach:

• Considering it a "build" project: A common mistake is to treat a Server-Side project as a simple construction project rather than an initiative requiring continuous monitoring and maintenance. A Server-Side project is subject to constant adjustments, evolving regulations, tag updates, potential errors, and integration of new tools moving to Server-Side. Without proactive management and dedicated research and development, there is a significant risk that the project will quickly become obsolete, thus nullifying all initial efforts and investments.
• Infrastructure selection: Infrastructure is tested every quarter, highlighting the crucial importance of rigorous control and monitoring of every operation. It is vital to ensure that everything runs smoothly, regardless of the time or volume of traffic. Technology evolves and transforms regularly, requiring daily DevOps work.

Why Addingwell is the recommended solution ?

In the dynamic universe of digital marketing, Addingwell emerges as the preferred solution of renowned partners such as Artefact, Converteo, Yuri & Neil, and Fifty Five. With over 80 partners, Addingwell is acclaimed for its expertise in the run phase, ensuring expert and meticulous management of every aspect of your Server-Side projects. Our partners, specialists in consulting and services (covering the entire build phase), recommend us for our reliability and unwavering support:

• Unwavering Reliability: Faced with challenges such as 502 errors and other overload issues, our clients benefit from robust infrastructures capable of supporting significant workloads without interruption. Our 99.99% SLA ensures optimal availability and performance, with the ability to handle more than 30,000 events per second. This level of reliability eliminates the risk of data collection interruption during peak periods.
• Browser Evolution Adaptability: In a context of frequent browser updates, such as Safari 16.4, Addingwell ensures continuous and seamless data collection. Our cookie restore technology ensures effective and change-resistant tracking, thereby preserving the integrity and accuracy of your data.
• Advanced Monitoring and Alerting: With our Tag Health tool, Addingwell transcends traditional monitoring to provide comprehensive analysis of your tags' performance. Immediate alerts in case of anomaly allow for quick and targeted interventions, ensuring reliable and complete data collection.

Choosing Addingwell means opting a future where your Server-Side strategy is not only ready for 2024 but also built on a solid foundation for years to come. We invite you to ask all your questions through a free demonstration with our experts.

Take the plunge today and experience the Addingwell difference!