Server-side marketing data storage

Server-side marketing data storage works as a more advanced replacement for the traditional browser storages, specifically cookies which are still heavily used by most of the browser pixels and server-side tracking systems to store marketing-critical information for long-term usage.

Marketing-critical information covers data such as Meta Click ID (FBCLID / _fbc), Meta pixel unique identifier (_fbp), Google Ads Click ID (GCLID, WBRAID, GBRAID) etc.

Each platform has its own unique identifiers and / or click ids that they rely on to properly attribute conversions to the corresponding campaigns and ads.

We have already talked about the challenges with cookies and how they slowly become less reliable in the article about the cookieless tracking.

The most well known example of this is how Safari browser handles tracking cookies, specifically JavaScript and HTTP cookies sent from external servers, like server-side tracking systems.

Since 2023 these kinds of cookies have lifetime capped maximum up to 7 days.

This means that the user visiting your website from Safari browser will be counted as a new user after 7 days and all marketing information associated with them will be lost.

Other challenges associated with cookies

But cookie lifetime is not the only issue digital marketing faces today. Most users usually possess multiple devices and might visit the website from more than one of them.

What happens when a user visits the website through advertisement from one device but converts with another?

Same question applies to using multiple browsers on one device.

How server-side marketing data solves these challenges

We will explain on our system, how the server-side marketing data storage built inside it manages information accuracy and the data exchange process between browser and the server and therefore, provides the solution for cookies.

As we already talked in the article about the cookieless tracking, our EGO Tracking identifies and processes the data on the servers that gives us an opportunity to drastically improve the data accuracy and a confidence to rely on the results we get.

After the identification and processing stage, we extract every piece of marketing-critical information and store it internally based on the tracking project settings and user consent status. In other words, we are moving the cookies (Only relevant marketing information) to the server, store it securely and use it for as long as needed with 2 purposes:

Enrich the server events before they are sent to the data destinations, like Meta Conversion API or GA4 to improve server-side event attribution quality

Return back to the browsers even after the days or weeks since its collection to further extend the cookie lifetime and provide the browser pixels the necessary information for higher quality data collection

Event enrichment on the server

Each event received on the server is automatically distributed to all advertising and analytical platforms connected. In this process we evaluate the available pieces of additional information stored in the databases that can be appended to the events and fill in the gaps caused by potential low quality data from the data source.

In other words, if we receive the event from the website without Meta Click ID (FBCLID / _fbc) and Meta unique identifier (_fbp), the system identifies the exact value of the missing pieces of information required, looks it up and appends the results to the event before directing it to Meta Conversion API.

This happens for every data destination connected to the tracking project and it ensures the improved precision and data accuracy between the platforms.

Sending marketing data back to the browsers

After the process described above, marketing information for each platform is combined together and directed back to the browser event originated from.

The returned data is processed and stored / refreshed as cookies to make sure that the browser pixels also use up-to-date information.

What is the difference?

Server-side marketing data storage changes the role of cookies in the data collection, analytics and ad performance optimization process.

Before, they were the only storage available to keep the marketing-critical information despite their restrictions, vulnerabilities to deletion and limited lifetime.

Now, cookies are no longer necessary for server-side tracking and are limited just to the role of temporary intermediary platform for the server to manage the browser pixels for browser-side tracking.