Although it has already been 9 months since Consent Mode v2 became mandatory, many entrepreneurs still find it unclear. This is understandable — in eCommerce, priorities generally involve managing inventory, optimizing marketing campaigns, enhancing user experience and maintaining good customer relationships. Technical aspects such as Consent Mode often remain on the “to-do later” list.

In this context, it is not surprising that some entrepreneurs end up having unrealistic or even incorrect expectations regarding how certain technologies work, such as server-side tracking. Recently, a client created an account on Tagual, hoping that our solution could circumvent Consent Mode. This gave us the opportunity to explain in detail how server-side tracking works and why it is not a method to dodge the rules, but rather a tool for collecting more accurate and valuable data.

Classic Tracking: How you lose essential data

Imagine the traffic on your site as a pitcher full of water, and your main traffic sources — Facebook, Google, TikTok — as three glasses. When a user arrives on the site and refuses cookies through Consent Mode, a significant portion of the water is lost. Without access to this data, we cannot correctly attribute conversions.

Moreover:

  • Ad blockers and advanced privacy settings lead to losing a significant volume of data and 34% of users globally use such technologies.

  • Apple devices limit cookie duration to just 7 days, meaning we lose the history of users who return to the site after this period. Given that Apple holds 27% of the market, the impact is significant.

These obstacles result in inaccurate analysis of campaign performance and limit their optimization. For a clearer explanation of the analogy with the pitcher of water and traffic sources, you can watch our video here.

Server-Side Tracking: More data, more conversions

How does server-side tracking help?

  • It bypasses ad blockers, enabling accurate traffic attribution.

  • It extends the lifespan of cookies, including on Apple devices, allowing you to track conversions even after 7 days.

However, it is essential to emphasize that server-side tracking is NOT a solution for circumventing Consent Mode. Compliance with GDPR regulations is crucial, and ignoring them can have serious consequences for your company, which is not a risk worth taking.

Why are these data important?

Additional data enables you to provide more detailed information to advertising platforms like Facebook, Google and TikTok.

This means:

  • Better campaign optimization, leading to lower costs per conversion.

  • More conversions, thanks to more precise audience targeting.

  • A snowball effect: the more valuable data you accumulate, the more efficient your campaigns become over time.

Server-side tracking gives you the chance to turn lost data into valuable insights that optimize your campaigns and reduce costs. Optimization starts with the right information.

Are you ready? Create an account on Tagual now and start collecting more data for your campaigns!