Server-Side Analytics: What, Why, and How?

Posit Source Technologies Private Limited

11 Feb 2025 — 6 min read

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, data reigns supreme. Businesses rely on comprehensive user insights to optimize campaigns, personalize experiences, and measure success. Traditional client-side analytics, while valuable, have limitations. This is where server-side analytics steps in, offering a robust and future-proof solution for gathering in-depth user behavior data. Google Analytics, particularly Google Analytics 4 (GA4), supports server-side tracking to help marketers and developers collect cleaner and more reliable data.

This blog will walk you through:

What server-side Google Analytics is
Why it is crucial in today’s analytics ecosystem
How to set up server-side tracking in GA4
Third-party tools that simplify the implementation

What is Server-Side Google Analytics?

Traditionally, web analytics tools like Google Analytics collect data using client-side tracking, where JavaScript-based tracking scripts (such as the GA4 tag in Google Tag Manager) run in the browser. However, this approach is becoming increasingly limited due to:

Browser restrictions (e.g., Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) by Safari, Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) by Firefox)
Ad-blockers and privacy policies (GDPR, CCPA, and similar regulations)
Third-party cookie deprecation (Chrome plans to phase out third-party cookies in 2024)

With server-side tracking, the data collection process is moved from the browser (client-side) to a dedicated cloud-based server. Instead of sending data directly to Google Analytics, tracking requests first go to an intermediary server, which then processes and forwards the information.

Why Use Server-Side Google Analytics?

Switching to server-side tracking provides several advantages:

Enhanced Data Accuracy & Quality

Client-side tracking can lead to missing data due to ad blockers, network failures, or privacy settings. By sending data first to your own server, you regain control over what gets tracked and forwarded to GA4.

Improved Page Load Performance

Traditional tracking scripts slow down web pages by adding numerous HTTP requests to external analytics servers. With server-side tracking, these requests happen in the background on a cloud server, improving website performance and Core Web Vitals scores.

Increased Data Privacy & Compliance

By managing tracking requests on your own server, you can anonymize, filter, or redact sensitive data before sending it to Google Analytics, helping meet compliance standards like GDPR and CCPA.

Better Attribution & Ad Tracking

Safari and Firefox block third-party cookies and limit tracking to 7 days or less. Server-side tracking allows first-party cookie handling, extending attribution windows for advertising platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

Mitigation Against Ad Blockers

Since many ad blockers target JavaScript-based client-side scripts, server-side requests appear as legitimate server calls, reducing data loss.

How to Implement Server-Side Google Analytics?

Step 1: Set Up a Google Cloud Server for Server-Side GTM

Google recommends using Google Tag Manager’s (GTM) server-side container for server-side tracking. You will need:

A Google Cloud Platform (GCP) account
A Google Cloud App Engine project to host the GTM server OR this can be a third party tools like stape.io or AddingWell account
A custom domain or subdomain to serve tracking requests (e.g., analytics.yourdomain.com)

Steps to Deploy Server-Side GTM on tools like AddingWell or Stape.io

Deploy the GTM Server-Side Container

In Google Tag Manager, create a new Server container
Select Google Cloud Platform as the deployment environment
Click Manually provision tagging server

Copy the container config key and use it while setting up server container in any third party tool like AddingWell or Stape.io
Follow the steps given on these platforms to integrate the server side container. For example, if you’re using Stape.io, then it allows you to use custom loader which is more resistant to ad blockers and ITPs.

Once you configure custom loader, you need to integrate the custom javascript code in the header of your every webpage

Steps to Deploy Server-Side GTM on Google Cloud

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You can deploy the server-side container either on a third-party tool or on Google Cloud. Skip these steps if you’re using the third-party method described above.

Create a Google Cloud Project

Go to Google Cloud Console
Click Create Project, name it, and enable Billing

2. Enable Cloud Services

Enable the App Engine API and Cloud Run API

3. Deploy the GTM Server-Side Container

In Google Tag Manager, create a new Server container
Select Google Cloud Platform as the deployment environment
Click Automatically provision a new server

4. Configure Custom Domains (Optional)

Use Cloud DNS or an external DNS provider to point analytics.yourdomain.com to your GCP App Engine instance

Step 2: Configure GA4 for Server-Side Tracking

Open Google Tag Manager (server-side container)
Create a New Tag → GA4 Server-Side Tag
Set the GA4 Measurement ID (from your GA4 property)
Set the Endpoint URL to your server container URL (e.g., https://analytics.yourdomain.com)
Save and publish the tag

Step 3: Update Client-Side GTM to Send Data to Server-Side

Create a variable with type Google tag: Configuration settings
Add config parameter server_container_url and sets it’s value as your server container endpoint (e.g., https://analytics.yourdomain.com)
Create a Google tag if not already exists
In the configuration settings →Configuration Settings variable select the variable you selected in #1.
Publish the tag

Step 4: How to Send Data Layer Variables to Server-Side container

On a client container, create variables of type Data layer variable

2. On server side container, create variables of type Event Data

3. Specify the key coming from the data layer variable

4. You should be able to see these variables in server-side container preview

Third-Party Apps for Server-Side Google Analytics

While you can manually set up a Google Cloud GTM server, third-party tools make implementation easier. Here are some options:

Stape.io

Simplifies GTM server-side container setup
Offers managed server hosting, eliminating the need for Google Cloud
Supports GA4, Facebook CAPI, TikTok Events API, and more
Provides data enrichment options (e.g., resolving IP addresses, geolocation tracking)

2. AddingWell

Focuses on privacy-first tracking solutions
Helps manage server-side event routing
Offers no-code GA4 and Facebook CAPI integrations

3. GTM Server (by MeasureSchool)

Tailored for advanced users and agencies
Provides pre-built templates for GA4 and advertising platforms
Allows custom scripting for data transformation

4. Elevar

Specializes in eCommerce tracking solutions
Provides plug-and-play server-side tracking for Shopify and WooCommerce
Supports GA4, Facebook CAPI, TikTok, and Pinterest tracking

Final Thoughts

Server-side Google Analytics is a game-changer for marketers and developers looking for more accurate, privacy-compliant, and performance-optimized tracking.

Server-side analytics provides a more accurate and reliable way to collect user data compared to traditional client-side methods.
It enhances data privacy and compliance by allowing you to process and anonymize data on your own servers.
Server-side analytics unlocks access to valuable server-side data, enabling deeper insights into user behavior.
Tools like Stape.io and AddingWell simplify the implementation and management of server-side analytics.
It gives More control over what data is sent to Google Analytics
Server-side analytics gives Improved tracking reliability against ad blockers and browser restrictions
Enhanced ad attribution for platforms like Google Ads and Facebook

Whether you use Google Cloud Platform or third-party tools like Stape.io and Addingwell, transitioning to server-side tracking is a step toward future-proofing your analytics setup.

Are you ready to switch to server-side tracking?