Server-side tracking. Built once. Accurate everywhere.

Stape for most brands — managed, monitored, no DevOps overhead, predictable monthly pricing tied to event volume, and excellent technical support. Self-hosted on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for accounts with >10 million events/month, strict data-residency requirements (EU-only, Indian-only data localisation), or specific compliance needs (HIPAA, FinTech) that require full infrastructure control. Self-hosted lowers per-event cost at scale but adds operational overhead. We recommend honestly based on your event volume, compliance posture, and team capacity.

No — server-side runs alongside the browser pixel, not in place of it. Both fire for the same conversion event; deduplication happens via event ID at the platform level (Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn all support event-ID dedup). Browser-side handles users with cookie consent + non-iOS traffic; server-side handles iOS-blocked + ATT-opted-out traffic. The combined signal is richer than either alone. Existing tags continue working through the cutover; no measurement gap during deployment.

8–18% additional attributed conversions on average across most paid-social and paid-search accounts post-implementation. Range depends on three variables: iOS share of your traffic (higher iOS = bigger recovery), creative-mix and channel-mix (Meta + TikTok benefit most; LinkedIn benefits least), and offline-conversion uploads (server-side enables clean offline conversion ingestion that can add another 5–10%). Top-decile accounts recover 20%+. We measure pre/post in your own attribution dashboard so the lift is verifiable.

Yes — GTM Server-Side does not bypass consent requirements. EU GDPR, UK GDPR, US CCPA, India DPDP, and emerging state laws all still require granular cookie consent (or equivalent processing-purpose consent). We integrate with your existing Consent Management Platform (Cookiebot, OneTrust, Termly, Iubenda, Usercentrics, custom) so server-side respects user choices. Plausible-only cookieless setups can run without consent banners under most jurisdictions, but you lose ad-platform conversion APIs which is why most clients run hybrid.

Yes — Shopify (Plus and standard), BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento (Adobe Commerce), Salesforce Commerce, Centra, Shopware, Webflow, headless commerce (Hydrogen, Saleor, Medusa), and custom Astro / Next.js / Remix builds — all standard. We handle the data-layer integration on your CMS side, the GTM Server-Side container on the server side, and validate end-to-end before cutover. Headless and custom builds typically need 1–2 days of additional engineering coordination with your dev team.

2–4 weeks for Google Smart Bidding (Maximise Conversions, Maximise Conversion Value, Target ROAS) to retrain on improved signal. Meta Advantage+ similar 2–4 week retraining window. TikTok's VBO retrains 4–8 weeks (slower because of its smaller dataset). Improvement compounds: better signal → more accurate optimisation → better creative testing → more data quality. Most clients see ROAS lift 12–25% within 60 days post-deployment, beyond just the raw 8–18% conversion-attribution recovery.