Marketing technology solutions commonly use two methods to collect behavioral data and send that data to a decision-making platform: one implemented on the client side, and a second implemented on the server side.
Eulerian offers its customers both client-side and server-side implementation options , giving you the power to make the choice that best suits your data strategy.
Benefits of Server-Side Tracking
Server-side tracking advantage #1
It allows for better control of data sent to third-party platforms (analytics tools, advertising networks, CRM, etc.). By processing data at a proxy server level, it is possible to decide what is sent, when and how to third-party platforms. This allows for better control over GDPR/ePrivacy issues, and therefore better data governance.
Advantage of server-side tracking #2:
It allows, under certain conditions, to limit the loss of data linked to adblockers. This allows for more precise and more efficient data-driven marketing.
Advantage of server-side tracking #3
It allows, under certain conditions, to maintain first-party cookies over time despite browser security (notably ITP on iOS/Safari), thus allowing third-party platforms to recognize the same user over a longer period. This partly improves attribution and retention analyses, because conversion tracking is not only more accurate, but also more sustainable.
Advantage of server-side tracking #4
It helps improve loading times, especially for sites with a lot of external scripts. This notably improves user experience and SEO (Core Web Vitals) performance.
Advantage of server-side tracking #5
It allows to enrich the hits sent to advertising agencies (Meta Ads for example) with first-party data (CRM for example) in order to improve the matching rate between users of the website concerned and users present in the database of the advertising agency concerned. This improves the quality of advertising audiences and therefore the overall marketing performance.
Server-side tracking is generally more reliable because the extent of data handling is fully controlled by the controller, both in terms of data collection and transmission to third-party systems (piggybacking).
In the context of a client-side web SDK, piggybacking refers to a practice where a script or tag responsible for a specific task (such as tracking user data or advertising) triggers one or more others, often without the explicit knowledge of the user or website operator.
This usually happens when a main tag, embedded in the website, automatically loads other third-party tags or scripts.
For an advertiser, this represents a loss of control over the data collected and shared for several reasons:
Lack of transparency : The advertiser may not have a complete understanding of all the tags that are loaded through piggybacking. This may result in data collection and transmission that was not intended or authorized by the advertiser.
Data Security : Each third-party tag added via piggybacking could potentially collect sensitive or personal data. Without proper management and monitoring, this can lead to data security risks, including breaches of user privacy.
Regulatory Compliance : With strict regulations like GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California, and other privacy laws, unchecked piggybacking can put advertisers in a position of non-compliance. They can be held liable for unauthorized data collection and sharing.
Website Performance : Adding multiple third-party tags can negatively impact website performance, slowing down page load times and degrading the user experience. This in turn can negatively impact conversion rates and the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
Data Quality : Piggybacking can lead to data quality issues. Cascaded tags can collect information inconsistently, resulting in inaccurate or incomplete data.
To minimize these risks, advertisers and website operators should carefully monitor the tags and scripts embedded in their pages and ensure that they understand and control all data collection processes occurring on their sites.
Server-side tracking is also less susceptible to some of the collection challenges inherent in client-side tracking, such as a dropped internet connection or an ad blocker.
What are the differences between client-side collection and server-side collection?
Client-side monitoring
Historically, the most popular method for collecting and transmitting data from web pages is based on web SDKs, also known as beacons, JavaScript tags, or pixels.
Server-side data management, also known as server-side management, is when a web SDK sends data to your web server (or that of a server-side tag management provider), so that web server can then in turn send the data to other destination systems/servers.
A single web SDK is then used (instead of one tag per destination system) to centralize data collection and synchronization to third-party destinations.
This type of configuration relies on first-party data collection coupled with a server-side data infrastructure, and allows you to do without third-party tags implemented on the client side and based on third-party cookies, while preserving your main business use cases.
Benefits of Client-Side Tracking
Contextual data
Client-side tracking has the advantage of occurring on the user's device, providing direct access to user-specific data, such as cookies, URL parameters, user agent, referrer, and IP address.
With a client-side implementation, you can easily collect and track all this information to trigger further actions.
Ease of Implementation, Availability of Expertise
Client-side tracking also has an advantage in terms of ease of installation. Many providers provide a simple implementation code snippet (a copy and paste into a client-side tag manager is usually enough).
Client-side tracking tags have also been a standard practice for many years, making it a common/standard task in the industry, and therefore easily replicable.
What is the solution recommended by Eulerian?
The demise of third-party cookies is driving major changes in how companies collect and use customer data, and is critically limiting the primary use cases of audience targeting for advertising campaigns. These cookies have long been the backbone of online data tracking, providing valuable insights into user behavior. Data loss is becoming a critical concern as the company’s business development relies on digital acquisition mechanics/campaigns.
Since 2006, the Eulerian platform has relied on first-party data collection, which is already resilient to the disappearance of third-party cookies.
Coupled with a Server-Side implementation, you obtain the most sustainable and qualitative solution in the face of the disappearance of third-party cookies.
Data Infrastructure & First Party Identity Connector
Building a value exchange that encourages users to share their first-party data is the biggest challenge facing advertisers looking to grow their digital business.
Without secure data management and storage, customer trust can falter and all the groundwork of data collection can be undone in an instant. Responsible data governance is essential because a single breach in data privacy can lead to your customers requesting deletion of their data or leave you vulnerable to legal action.
Eulerian has developed a suite of proprietary solutions dedicated to the management and optimization of a first-party data infrastructure.
Deterministic Identity Resolution
Consent management and related aspects of data governance, such as addressing the right to be forgotten, are nearly impossible to honor if you don't know who your users are.
Similarly, if you do not have the technical capacity to identify your audiences, it would be impossible for you to follow and analyze a customer journey, from their advertising click to the confirmation of their purchase,
Deterministic identity resolution enables uniquely and accurately identifying users across different devices or platforms based on specific, verifiable information.
This technique relies on the use of First Party data.
Here are the key points of Eulerian deterministic identity resolution:
Data Reliability : It is considered very reliable because it is based on concrete, often declarative information, and not on assumptions or probabilities.
Uniqueness : Each identifier is unique to a user, allowing for precise and personal identification.
Cross-Platform Integration : Allows a user to be tracked across different devices and platforms, as long as they use the same login ID.
Importance for Marketing : Essential for personalized marketing strategies, as it helps to understand user behavior across different channels.
Compliance and Privacy : This approach must be carefully managed to remain compliant with privacy regulations, such as GDPR, as it involves the use of personal data.
Consent management
One of the pillars of responsible data management is the legal basis used for processing, of which the consent (or opt-in) collected by your Consent Management Platform (CMP) is the starting point.
Ensuring that each customer’s data is used in accordance with their consent preferences at all times is necessary for your compliance obligations.
For example, when a customer visits your website, they may allow their data to be collected for analytics and security purposes, but not for marketing and advertising purposes. It is therefore your responsibility to ensure that the data collected after setting these preferences is sent to the appropriate systems.
Our integrations with the main CMPs on the market, combined with our proprietary Eulerian Privacy Manager solution, provide all the necessary guarantees for first-party data collection that respects Internet users' privacy and legal compliance requirements, while feeding your marketing solutions with richer and more qualitative data.
Identity connector
A first-party identity connector is a critically important tool in marketing activities. Understanding its role requires first looking at the function previously played by third-party cookies.
Role of Third Party Cookies
Third-party cookies were used as cross-site identifiers, allowing advertisers to recognize and track users across different websites. These cookies, placed by domains other than the one being visited by the user, collected data on browsing behavior, thereby facilitating ad targeting and personalization of content across the web. However, with evolving privacy concerns and new regulations, their use is set to disappear.
Added Value of Eulerian First Party Identity Connector
Faced with these changes, our first-party identity connector makes it possible to perpetuate marketing use cases that require the identification of a user on your site or on your mobile application, but also on the rest of the online and offline environments and partners with which you work.
Technology Partnerships and Universal Identifiers
Eulerian develops partnerships with other technology players to enrich and make your first party data interoperable with other solutions or tools.
These players are developing universal identifier solutions that aim to recreate a form of cross-site user identifier.
These partnerships aim to fill the void left by the decline of third-party cookies, by offering solutions that allow advertisers to maintain personalized and effective communication with their audience, while respecting high standards of personal data protection.
Eulerian Server-Side: your business solutions in full Server-Side mode
Discover the different business solutions offered by Eulerian in full server-side.
First-party data collection combined with a server-side implementation helps to sustain many business use cases:
Server-Side Attribution: Measure the ROI of Marketing Investments
Marketing attribution is essential to understanding the effectiveness of different marketing strategies and channels.
It allows businesses to track a customer's journey from first contact to final conversion, identifying which touchpoints (advertising, emails, social media, organic search, etc.) influenced their purchasing decision.
This in-depth understanding helps brands allocate their budget effectively by investing more in the best performing channels.
By analyzing attribution data, businesses can identify trends in consumer behavior, optimize their campaigns for better ROI, and tailor their marketing strategy to more accurately meet the needs and preferences of their target audience.
Thus, marketing attribution is not only a performance measurement tool, but also a strategic lever for informed decision-making and more effective marketing planning.
Server-Side Analytics: Analyze the behavior of your web and app traffic
Web analytics plays a crucial role in understanding and improving the performance of websites and online applications.
By collecting and analyzing data such as site traffic, user behavior, conversion rates, and engagement, it provides valuable insights into content effectiveness, site usability, and user experience.
This information allows businesses to identify strengths and areas for improvement in their online presence.
For example, understanding user journeys can reveal barriers to conversion, while analyzing traffic sources helps understand which marketing channels attract the most qualified visitors.
Server-Side Optimization: Optimize your advertising bids
Ad bid optimization is a critical component to the profitability of your marketing investments, especially in programmatic advertising and paid search environments.
This practice involves using first-party data to feed the purchasing algorithms of advertising platforms, in order to automatically adjust advertising bids, thereby maximizing the efficiency of advertising budgets.
The goal is to reach the most relevant audience at the most cost-effective rate, taking into account factors such as user behavior, ad context, and likelihood of conversion.
By optimizing bids, businesses can improve their ROI by precisely targeting users who are likely to be interested in their products or services, while controlling costs.
This dynamic, data-driven approach allows for greater flexibility and responsiveness, adapting in real time to market changes and consumer behaviors, ensuring that every dollar spent on advertising is used in the most efficient way possible.