With ad blockers on the rise and privacy-focused features like Apple’s ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention) or Firefox’s ETP (Enhanced Tracking Protection) becoming more widespread, marketers and analysts are facing a growing problem: the erosion of reliable audience tracking.
In this landscape, server-side tracking is quickly emerging as a key technology. It offers one major advantage: regaining control by moving data processing back to a controlled environment—specifically, a secure first-party server hosted on a subdomain of your own website. It's a clever way to bypass ad blockers, improve web performance, and ensure your consent banner actually loads—no small feat in today’s fragmented ecosystem.
Not quite sure how it works? Don’t worry. In this edition of the Product Lab, we break it all down—from the technical underpinnings to the marketing benefits.
Server-side 101: a First-party Approach to Data Collection
To keep things simple: in the traditional client-side setup, each partner you work with—Google Analytics, Meta, LinkedIn Ads, and so on—runs its own scripts directly in the user’s browser. These scripts are triggered based on conditions defined in your tag manager.
Server-side tracking flips that model. Instead of having multiple scripts firing in the browser, only one tag runs client-side—the one that sends data to an intermediary server hosted in a controlled environment (typically through a server-side GTM container on a subdomain like analytics.yoursite.com). That server then processes the data, applies the proper consent rules, and forwards it only to the platforms the user has agreed to.
In other words: you regain control. Your data collection takes place in a secure, first-party ecosystem. And since all tags are centralized and managed server-side, the deployment is cleaner and easier to maintain.
That said, today’s tracking architecture is rarely that simple. Major players like Meta have introduced their own server-to-server APIs, which means many setups rely on hybrid models combining client-side, server-side, and direct API integrations.
Avoid Compliance Pitfalls by Dodging Ad-blockers
One of the lesser-known benefits of server-side tracking is that it helps ensure your consent banner is actually displayed—even to users with ad blockers.
Many ad blockers today don’t just stop ads. Some of them proactively block any third-party script that even resembles a tracker—including Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) like Axeptio. That means if your CMP script is blocked, the user never sees a consent banner, and their visit enters a regulatory grey zone. By law (think GDPR, or Quebec’s Law 25), no data should be collected—but the user never really had a choice (because of the ad blocker).
Hosting your CMP script on a first-party subdomain solves the issue: ad blockers can’t block calls to your own server. This guarantees that your consent banner is shown, that consent is properly collected, and that any data you process is done so legally.
A Real Boost for Web Performance
Server-side doesn’t just help with compliance. It also lightens the load on your site.
In a traditional setup, every partner loads its own script, which can quickly drag down your site’s speed and hurt the user experience. With server-side, much of that heavy lifting happens upstream, on your server. Fewer scripts, fewer requests, and fewer chances for tools to clash or conflict. It’s a win for your Core Web Vitals—and your SEO rankings.
Curious about how your CMP impacts your site’s SEO? We’ve got a full guide on that right here.
Bringing Lost Users Back Into View
Here’s the final (and maybe most compelling) argument for going server-side with Axeptio: you can reclaim a big chunk of user data that would have otherwise been lost.
“If a significant share of your traffic comes from users browsing with ad blockers, you're probably missing out on a lot of valuable data,” explains Antoine Borowiak, Tracking & Analytics Consultant at Digitad. “With server-side, we typically see 20 to 30% more data recovered.”
Between Apple's ITP, Firefox's ETP, ad blockers, and the growing number of users who opt out of tracking altogether, data loss has become the new normal for many websites. Server-side offers a way forward—a chance for marketing and analytics teams to work with more complete, more trustworthy data again. In short, it puts brands back in charge of their own data strategy.
Want to dig deeper? Explore Axeptio’s full technical documentation to set up server-side tracking on your own terms.
Need support?
Our team is available to guide you through the integration of your consent management solution.
