Video Hosting Platform FirstPartyPixel Integration/ Server Side Tracking

Video Hosting Platform FirstPartyPixel Integration/ Server Side Tracking

In the ongoing battle to abolish third-party pixels and cookies, Google and Facebook took a big step in reestablishing how companies track your online profile and habits. Facebook’s recent introduction of a first-party pixel solution to their ad platform is geared towards the online ad industry.After Google released its new feature called first-party mode, a lot of questions arose about its advantages and differences compared to server-side tracking. At first glance, both look pretty similar

Custom Loader helps make Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4 scripts more resistant to ad blockers and Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) by modifying gtag.js and gtm.js loading path. Moreover, a Custom Loader and Custom Domain help set first party cookies and prolong cookie lifetime!

Work effort: Domain Management , API Integration
Solution: Stape Custom GTM and GA4 Loader , FB API , Google Ads API , Google Ads Manager . Integrating with Stape API for first party domain creation , Adding CNAME records for domain and passing all tracking data to servers.
Technologies: JavaScript , StapeAPI

Creating a visual architecture diagram for integrating both Google and Facebook pixels with Server-Side Tracking involves a few key components. While I can’t generate actual images, I can describe how you can structure it, and you can either use this description to create the diagram yourself or work with a graphic designer to visualize it.

Here’s how you can structure the architecture:

### **1. Client-Side Tracking Layer:**

– **User Browser**: This represents the user’s web browser interacting with your site. The user performs actions (page visits, clicks, etc.) on the site, triggering the need for event tracking.

– **Google Pixel / Facebook Pixel** (Client-Side): These JavaScript snippets are placed in the header of your site to track client-side events. When the user interacts with the page, these pixels capture data such as page views, clicks, or form submissions.

### **2. Server-Side Layer:**

– **Web Server**: When a user performs an action, the data captured by the client-side pixels is sent to your web server. This could be an HTTP request containing tracking data.

– **Server-Side Tracking**:
– This is where the integration with the server-side tracking system comes in.
– You could use tools like **Google Tag Manager Server-Side**, **Facebook Conversions API**, or **other server-side solutions** to capture the events coming from the user.

– **Event Transformation**:
– Before sending the data to Google/Facebook, you may need to transform or process the event data.
– For example, you may validate or enrich the data (like adding user IDs or session data) before sending it to the respective platforms.

### **3. Platform Integration Layer:**

– **Google Server-Side Integration** (Google Tag Manager Server-Side or Google Conversions API):
– Server-side events are forwarded to Google via the **Google Conversions API**.
– Google can track the events like page views, add-to-carts, purchases, etc., without needing client-side scripts to handle the data.

– **Facebook Server-Side Integration** (Facebook Conversions API):
– Server-side events are forwarded to Facebook via the **Facebook Conversions API**.
– Similar to Google, Facebook will track user behavior and activity without relying on browser-side scripts.

### **4. Data Flow / Event Journey:**

– **User Interaction**: The user performs an action on your website.

– **Client-Side Pixels (Google / Facebook)**: These collect event data on the browser and send it to your web server.

– **Server-Side API**: The data from client-side pixels is forwarded to your server-side infrastructure (like GTM Server-Side container or a custom API endpoint).

– **Data Processing**: The server processes the data (e.g., adding more details, transforming it into the right format).

– **Google/Facebook API**: Data is sent to Google and Facebook via their respective server-side APIs (Conversions API for Facebook and Conversions API for Google).

### **5. Additional Layers:**

– **Data Layer** (Optional): If you’re using a more complex server-side setup, you might have a centralized data layer that handles the synchronization of event data across multiple platforms.

### **Example Flow Diagram (Text-based description):**

1. **User Browser** → (Interacts with website) → **Client-Side Pixels** (Google Pixel, Facebook Pixel).
2. **Client-Side Pixels** → (Sends data to Web Server) → **Server-Side Tracking System**.
3. **Server-Side Tracking System** → (Transforms and processes data) → **Google API (Conversions API)**.
4. **Server-Side Tracking System** → (Transforms and processes data) → **Facebook API (Conversions API)**.

### **Key Points to Consider:**

– **Privacy & Consent Management**: Ensure you’re complying with privacy regulations such as GDPR, CCPA. The user must consent to tracking, and you must handle the data securely.

– **Data Accuracy & Latency**: Server-side tracking can improve data accuracy (for example, reducing issues caused by ad blockers) but it might introduce latency, so it’s essential to monitor the system’s performance.