In this guide
- One request leaves the browser for your own subdomain. The server container turns it into event data, runs tags and sends data to each vendor.
- The server answers the browser, and can set cookies in that answer.
- Everything in between is your container: what to keep, remove, add and send.
Server-side tracking sounds more complicated than it is. It is the same list of tags you already know, running in a different place. This page follows one purchase through the whole path and names each part. When you have read it, the other pages on server containers will make more sense. For a quicker overview start with what server-side tracking is, and for the parts of the container see clients, tags, triggers and variables.
How much is your tracking missing?
Put in your own numbers. This is an estimate, not a promise.
Most stores do not know this number. Start with 20% and compare it with the orders in your store.
That is the signal Meta and Google are missing when they decide who to show your ads to. Server-side tracking sends it back.
Orders from your store, back to the ad that earned them
Your store sends the order once. Open Tracked passes it on to each ad platform, cleaned and deduplicated.
The cast
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| Browser | The visitor's browser and the web container on your page |
| Tagging subdomain | A subdomain such as data.yourstore.com that points to your server |
| Server container | A Google Tag Manager container running on a server |
| Client | The part that receives a request and turns it into event data |
| Tags | The parts that send data to Meta, Google, TikTok and others |
| Vendors | The ad and analytics platforms that receive the data |
One purchase, step by step
The visitor buys
The thank-you page pushes a purchase event to the data layer, with the order number, value, currency, items and the customer's e-mail.
The web container sends it
Instead of calling Meta and Google directly, the Google tag sends one request to data.yourstore.com.
The request reaches your server
The tagging server receives it over HTTPS on your own domain.
A client claims it
The GA4 client recognises the format, claims the request and builds event data: name purchase, parameters, client ID.
Power-ups and transformations act
Cookie Keeper can restore cookies, the Enricher can add stored data, Visitor Location can add the country, and transformations can remove fields.
Triggers fire tags
The GA4, Meta Conversions API, Google Ads and TikTok tags run, each reading the fields it needs.
The server calls each vendor
Each tag sends its own request, for example to the Meta Conversions API, with hashed e-mail and the event ID.
The server answers the browser
The response goes back, and may set or refresh first-party cookies.
Ask Ari instead of digging through reports
Ari reads your tracking and ad data and answers in plain words.
Where each benefit comes from
- Blocker resistance comes from step 2: the browser only talks to your domain.
- Cookie life comes from step 8: the server sets cookies in an HTTP response, and from step 5: Cookie Keeper restores them.
- Matching comes from steps 5 and 7: the server adds data and sends hashed identifiers.
- Control comes from steps 5 and 6: transformations and triggers decide what goes where.
What can go wrong at each step
Browser and server together
Most stores keep some browser tags too, for example the Meta pixel, and send the same event from the server with a shared event ID. The vendor counts it once. The server copy covers what the browser lost. See event deduplication.
Where Open Tracked fits
Open Tracked runs steps 3 to 8 for you. The server, the subdomain, the certificate and the power-ups are managed, and the Setup Wizard gives you ready container files with the clients, tags and variables in place. You decide what to send and how to respect consent.
A simple mental model
Think of the server container as a post office for your tracking. Letters (events) arrive from the browser. The sorting desk (the client) reads each one and decides what it is. The clerks (transformations and power-ups) add or remove information. Then the delivery staff (tags) send copies to the right addresses (vendors), and a receipt goes back to the sender (the response). Everything about how this works for you comes down to how you configure the sorting desk, the clerks and the delivery staff.
If you remember only one thing, remember that the container is just a list of rules. It does nothing a rule does not tell it to do. That makes it predictable. When something goes wrong, you can always find the step where the event stopped changing in the way you expected, and fix the rule that governs that step.
Terms you will see
- Client
- The part of the server container that receives requests.
- Event data
- The cleaned-up event that tags and triggers read.
- Tag
- A part that sends data to another company.
- Response
- The answer the server sends back to the browser.
- Vendor
- An ad or analytics company that receives your data.
3 things to remember
Scroll and the points stack up.
One request leaves the browser for your own subdomain. The server container turns it into event data, runs tags and sends data to
The server answers the browser, and can set cookies in that answer.
Everything in between is your container: what to keep, remove, add and send.
Frequently asked questions
How does server-side tracking work?
The browser sends events to your own subdomain, your server container processes them and your server sends them on to each vendor.
What is a client in server-side GTM?
The part of the container that receives a request and turns it into event data for tags and triggers.
Do I still need browser tags?
Often yes, for some vendors. Send the same event from both with a shared event ID.
Where do cookies fit?
The server can set first-party cookies in its response, and tools like Cookie Keeper can restore them.
Who runs the server?
You, on Google Cloud, or a managed host such as Open Tracked.
Do I need spreadsheets to read my results?
No. Once tracking is live, the Open Tracked analytics shows spend, revenue, ROAS and profit, and you can ask Ari, the built-in AI assistant, questions about your own numbers in plain words. Ari's allowance depends on your analytics plan.
Is Open Tracked different from Open Track or Open Space Track?
No. Open Tracked is the official name of our server-side tracking platform, and the website is opentracked.io. Many people search for it as Open Track, OpenTrack or Open Space Track. All of them lead to the same product: server-side Google Tag Manager hosting, first-party analytics and a CRM pipeline.
Fix your tracking at the source
Open Tracked hosts your server-side Tag Manager, keeps first-party cookies alive and shows what each ad is really worth.
The Open Tracked team
We build Open Tracked: server-side tracking hosting, analytics and the tools around them, for stores that spend on ads. Questions about this guide, or an idea for the next one?
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