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Google Tag Manager Server-Side Tracking: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

google-analyticsserver-sidegdprprivacyintermediate
4.5/5The video provides a comprehensive, step-by-step tutorial on implementing server-side tracking with Google Tag Manager, with excellent visual demonstrations and clear explanations. The production quality is high with good screen captures and audio, and the presenter explains complex concepts in an accessible way. While it covers the technical implementation thoroughly, it lacks some discussion of GDPR implications of server-side tracking.
Google Tag Manager (GTM) Server Side Tracking

This comprehensive tutorial by Benjamin from Loves Data walks viewers through the process of implementing server-side tracking with Google Tag Manager (GTM). The video provides a detailed walkthrough of how to create and configure a server-side container, set up Google Analytics tags within this container, and modify your web container to work with the new server-side setup. The presenter begins by explaining the key benefits of server-side tracking: improved website performance by reducing client-side JavaScript tags, and greater control over data collection and distribution. He then demonstrates the entire implementation process, starting with creating a new server container in Google Tag Manager and provisioning a tagging server on Google App Engine. A significant portion of the tutorial focuses on configuring a custom domain for the server-side container, which enables the creation of first-party cookies. The presenter shows how to verify domain ownership, add necessary DNS records, and update the container settings with the custom subdomain. He then explains how to set up clients to listen for incoming data and configure tags to process this data appropriately. The video showcases how to create both Universal Analytics and App+Web (now GA4) tags in the server-side container, along with appropriate triggers to ensure they fire correctly. Finally, the presenter demonstrates how to modify the existing web container to send data to the server-side container instead of directly to Google Analytics, completing the implementation. ## Our Perspective at GDPR-Server-Tracking.eu While this video provides an excellent introduction to server-side tracking with GTM, implementing this solution on Google's infrastructure raises some GDPR compliance concerns. At GDPR-Server-Tracking.eu, we offer an alternative that provides all the benefits of server-side tracking while addressing these compliance issues. Our EU-based server-side tracking solution provides several advantages over the Google Cloud approach shown in the video: - Servers physically located in Finland (EU) - EU-based hosting company (Hetzner) with no US ownership - Bare metal hosting that eliminates third-party access risks associated with cloud providers - Enhanced privacy features including parameter filtering and data hashing - Competitive pricing compared to Google Cloud You can follow the same implementation steps shown in this tutorial, but deploy your container on our GDPR-compliant infrastructure instead. This approach gives you the performance and control benefits of server-side tracking while significantly improving your data privacy posture and reducing compliance risks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about "Google Tag Manager (GTM) Server Side Tracking"

Google Tag Manager Server-Side Tracking moves analytics and advertising tags from the client (browser) to a server. The main benefits include improved website performance by reducing JavaScript load, greater control over data collection, and enhanced ability to manage how data is distributed to various platforms.

To set up a custom domain, go to Google Cloud Platform, select App Engine > Settings > Custom Domains, verify your domain ownership by adding DNS records, and then update your container settings in GTM with the new subdomain. This enables first-party cookies and improves tracking capabilities.

As shown in the video, the server-side container currently has limited built-in tags: Google Analytics Universal Analytics, Google Analytics App+Web (now GA4), and HTTP request tags. For other platforms like Facebook, you would need to create custom tag templates or wait for Google to add more built-in options.

Yes, using Google Cloud Platform for server-side tracking raises GDPR compliance concerns since data may be processed on US-based infrastructure. For better GDPR compliance, consider EU-based hosting solutions like gdpr-server-tracking.eu that provide servers physically located in the EU with no US ownership.

To modify your web container, update your Google Analytics settings variable by adding your server-side container URL as the Transport URL. You can then pause any redundant tags (like GA4) that you've replicated in your server-side container to reduce client-side code.

Google's solution offers a free tier with a single server, but recommended production setups with three servers incur Google Cloud Platform costs. Alternative EU-based solutions like gdpr-server-tracking.eu often provide more predictable pricing models while offering additional privacy features and GDPR compliance benefits.

Yes, as demonstrated in the video, you can configure multiple tags in your server-side container to send the same incoming data to different platforms. For example, you can receive Universal Analytics data and forward it to both UA and GA4 properties without adding additional client-side code.

EU-based alternatives like gdpr-server-tracking.eu offer server-side tracking infrastructure on bare metal servers in Finland, operated by EU companies with no US ownership. These solutions provide the same technical benefits while addressing GDPR compliance concerns and often include additional privacy features like parameter filtering and data hashing.