In this week’s In-Ear Insights, Katie and Chris review the basics of what server-side tagging is, why it’s important, and how it works. Using Google Tag Manager’s server-side edition as the example, we look at why companies like Facebook are pushing it so much, and what benefits – and hurdles – server-side tagging presents. Tune in to find out!

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In today’s In Your Insights, let’s talk about a technology for analytics that you may man I’ve heard of and do a little bit of explaining about it. It is called server side tagging. And this is a technology that is being deployed by companies like Google with Google tag manager and with companies like Facebook with their Conversions API. So Katie, where do you want me to start explaining this slide?

Well, we should probably start with a definition, but let’s see if I at a basic level, understand it. So when we’re talking about tagging, we’re talking about something like a Google tag manager, for instance. And so typically you add the container to your Web site. But server side tagging means that you would instead of having to update your the tags on your website, you would maybe update it in like a cloud solution instead.

Is am I even close?

You are sort of close. OK, so here’s how here’s what this thing is. Server side tag refers to running a server typically in the cloud that is an intermediary that handles data and sends it places. So you still install a snippet of some kind on your website. Right. Typically, like with a Google tag matcher there’s a server side cloud snippet of some kind that you put on your Web site.

There is this server that you buy from any company, Amazon, Google, whatever. You give it your own domain name, right? So it be like analytics, trust, insights. A.I. would be the name of that server. And on our website, we would have a little snippet saying, you know, send our raw data to analytics to trust and insights on that server.

You have code that runs that takes in this raw data and says, OK, where do you want me to send this stuff? And that’s where Google tag manager runs. So Google tag manager, instead of running on our Web site, actually runs on the server as is. OK, you got me to send this data to like a car deals and this data, Google Analytics, send this to Facebook, send this Twitter and so on and so forth.

And it parcels out the