Server Side GA4 Pros and Cons
Server-side Google Analytics 4 (Ga4) implementation – it's the hot topic in the analytics world, promising enhanced data accuracy, privacy compliance (GDPR anyone?), and more control over your data. But when you throw cookie consent into the mix, does server-side Ga4 still live up to the hype?
The short answer: it's complicated. If you just want more accurate data, the answer is no. You do get more control but if you are the average person, you do not care. All you want is the conversion data.
The Promise: Server-side Ga4 allows you to collect data on your own server before sending it to Google. This gives you more flexibility in how data is handled, potentially increasing accuracy and mitigating potential data loss due to ad blockers or browser settings.
The Catch: While server-side tracking does offer more control, it doesn't magically bypass cookie consent requirements. If a user declines cookies, particularly those classified as “performance” or “analytics,” you're legally obligated to respect their choice – regardless of whether you're using server-side or traditional client-side tracking. Anything blocking the client sending to Ga4 will also stop is sending to your container, so no gains there.
As stated by Simo Ahava
Juliana: …wanted to kind of like catch up with you besides vacation. Like I know you've been, uh, you just released, um, uh, Piwik PRO server-side template, and I actually had a few marketers that were asking me like if they use Piwik PRO or GTM or whatever they're using in general, they were asking me like what makes the difference from server-side to client-side for the regular marketer. So I said to them, you know, I'm going to record with Simo soon, he actually teaches a course about this stuff, so I just wanted to ask you like what does server-side mean for the regular market, like what's the difference for them?
SImo: Yeah. I can actually also pitch that Piwik PRO, and I will be doing a webinar on this in, um, in September, and the date will be forthcoming. Um, at some point we'll do a webinar with with Antech who's one of the developers of Piwik PRO, and um, we'll talk more about this for sure. But like in a nutshell, um, if you already have Piwik PROwith a JavaScript tracker, or if you already have GA4 with the client-side stuff, and you don't necessarily need server-side, like it's, it's not an upgrade um that you need to do.
But if you do want to kind of take control of those data streams… so server-side has always been about control for me, that's, that's what it ep- epitomizes. It's like instead of having a vendor JavaScript doing whatever it likes on your site and collecting whatever it likes, you get to choose uh what is ingested by those vendors by using a server-side tagging proxy.
And what we built with Piwik PRO is basically a way to take that Piwik PRO JavaScript stream, forward it to the server-side container, and then you can kind of enrich it, you can validate it, you can block some things if you don't want to send them forward, and and then send it over to PW Pro. So if you don't do any enrichments or anything, then it's kind of unnecessary.
There, there are some, you know, people always mention two perks when they talk about server-side: one is ability to avoid ad blockers, and the other is ability to, to extend cookie lifetime. And both of those, in my opinion, are like, like totally idiotic reasons to, to pay the expenses of server-side tagging, like, it, it just makes no, makes no sense. You're basically trying to work around existing protection systems just to get more data, and like we could rant about this for two hours, but it makes no sense in the long run. So I'm just going to say that that's not a good reason to use server-side tagging.
But if you do want to control those data streams, and especially if you want to do like server-side enrichment, you know, pull in in, uh, e-commerce information, uh, pulling profit margin stuff that you don't want to expose in the client, then that server-side tagging setup makes a lot of sense.
I think a lot of the misconceptions come from what people think server side tagging is and what it is in reality.
You can see from the diagram that all server side GTM does is add a server in the middle. Anything blocked by the browser will be blocked for both server side and client side tracking.
What about ad blockers?
One advantage is that you can load the container from your own domain. This gives 1-2% more data according to Taggrs.io.
The Enhanced Tracking Script makes the tracking resistant to (advanced) ad blockers. The script ensures that GTM and GA4 requests are blocked less quickly. Average improvement: 1 to 2% more data, both client and server side.
The cost?
While server-side tracking with Google Analytics 4 on Google Cloud Run offers benefits, it can be costly for many businesses. Alternatives like TAGGRS or Stape.io provide more cost-effective solutions for server-side tracking implementation.
These platforms offer specialized services tailored for server-side Google Tag Manager, often at a fraction of the cost of running your own Cloud Run instances. For example, Taggrs hosting for server GTM starts at just €22/month, compared to the minimum $120/month for a production environment on Google Cloud.
TAGGRS provides a range of affordable plans based on website traffic volume. These services not only reduce costs but also simplify the setup process, eliminating the need for extensive technical knowledge or resource management. By leveraging their optimised infrastructure and expertise, businesses can benefit from server-side tracking without the hefty price tag associated with self-managed Cloud Run deployments.
Conclusion
In conclusion, server-side Google Analytics 4 is a powerful tool, but it's not a shortcut around cookie consent and getting more data. With cost effective platforms like Taggrs, it does make sense to try it but its best to get expectations right. You need to weigh up the pros and cons yourself. With Taggrs starting at €22 a month though, it might be worth trying it out anyway.
Free Set up
For limited time, if you sign up a to paid plan on Taggrs, I will set up your container
I can get a commission on the sale, so I can afford to offer this service for free and see how it goes. I will duplicated your existing set up and send in via Taggrs.
Ben has a BEng (Hons) in Computer Science and 20 years of experience in online marketing, specialising in SEO, lead generation and affiliate marketing. After spending over a decade as an igaming affiliate, he has decided to concentrate on GA4 training and SEO Audits.
