Server-Side Tracking: Recent Developments and Trends in 2025

12 Sept 2025

Digital marketing measurement has entered a new era. A few years ago, a tag placed on a browser was enough to track user behavior. Privacy regulations are expanding, cookies are being phased out, and external variables are changing. An increasing number of people, as shown by Google and Meta (Facebook), are following suit in changing the course. Therefore, most businesses are combating these changes by transitioning to something called server-side tracking (SST), which provides truly reliable and compliant data. However, while server-side tracking offers genuine advantages, switching from client-side tagging may not be the right choice for every company. Companies must still consider whether the costs, technical resources and data regulations make sense for them to switch to server-side tagging.

Google's new rules

In 2025, Google made some announcements and changes that shifted measurement approaches across the board:

Tag Gateway: Now tags can be directed through your own infrastructure, rather than just the browser. The tag gateway helps reduce data breakage and improves reliability.

On-Device Conversion Tracking: Particularly useful for iOS, this approach retains the user’s personally identifiable data, allowing conversions to be measured directly on the device.

Greater Diagnostics: Google expanded the amount of diagnostics with which they flag misconfigured tags—a lot earlier in the tag product lifecycle— to help teams avoid silent data loss.

GA4 Cookie Updates: In the past, there have been industry disruptions in May 2025 in which the GA4 session cookies introduced vulnerabilities within data collection pipelines that relied heavily on client-side parsing, which introduced data gaps for teams relying on prior rules of engagement.

Why it matters: These updates now means businesses can more easily achieve authoritative attribution, better cross-device attribution, and more certainty in reporting.

Privacy-Focused: Consent Encapsulates Everything!

The days of “collect everything and filter at the end” are over, and organizations that find success with measurement in 2025 will be around putting consent-driven data collection at the core of their strategy.

In particular with compliance and consent management platforms (CMPs) like Usercentrics, organizations can implement server-side tracking that is directly hooked into their consent management workflows – tracking will only trigger compliant data collection. This presents a huge opportunity; specifically for organizations operating in GDPR, CCPA, and the EU Digital Markets Act, where consent flows must match legal compliance flow.

Why it matters: Organizations can remain compliant with their respective jurisdictions while still effectively generating the insights they need to inform their campaign optimizations.

Migration: More Than a Switch

Moving to server-side tracking isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. Best practice is to run client-side and server-side setups in parallel until results align.
Critical steps include:
Adding deduplication logic to prevent double-counting conversions.

Running real-time validation checks to confirm accuracy.

Defining data retention rules when connecting to CRMs or historical systems.

Why it matters: These safeguards protect visibility and prevent data loss during migration.

Tools for Every Stage of Growth

Server-side tracking is no longer reserved for large enterprises. In 2025, solutions are available at every level:
Entry-Level: Tracklution, TAGGRS – accessible tools for smaller businesses.

Enterprise-Grade: Piwik PRO, JENTIS – advanced analytics platforms with privacy-first approaches.

Advanced Teams: Server-Side Google Tag Manager (sGTM) self-hosted on Google Cloud – for businesses that need maximum control.

Why it matters: Flexibility allows organizations to choose setups that match their scale, budget, and technical resources.

E-Commerce Tracking: The Shopify Example

E-commerce has been especially affected by tracking shifts. Shopify, for instance, has restricted direct use of Google Tag Manager in the checkout flow under its Checkout Extensibility model.
Instead, Shopify recommends:
Using Custom Pixels or the Web Pixels API for browser-side events.

Pairing those with server-side integrations to maintain accurate attribution.

Meanwhile, Google Tag Manager’s 2025 update now requires a valid Google Tag before ad tags fire. This improves accuracy but demands cleaner setups.
Why it matters: For retailers, any order that is mis-tracked directly impacts ROI, thus strong tracking and validation are paramount.

Adoption is not without challenges

Despite its promise, server-side tracking is not “essential” for everyone. Real-world challenges often slow or prevent adoption:
Developer Resources: Setting up and maintaining sST containers requires technical expertise. Many small businesses don’t have anyone who has the capacity to manage this.

Costs:Not only do you need to account for hosting costs on Google Cloud or AWS, businesses need to factor in monitoring, consent integrations, and ongoing management. For SMBs, these things can add up to outweigh any short-term benefits.

Regulatory roadblocks:Laws, such as GDPR and the CCPA differ from area to area. If you are a global business, you have to maintain compliant consent flows in each market, which adds a layer of complexity.
Buy-in from the organization: You must get the marketing team and engineers to collaborate. In some organizations, they don’t always have the same objectives.
To be perfectly clear: Server-side tracking can be a very powerful, valuable decision; adoption must be weighed against resource capabilities, compliance needs, and ROI.

Where the Value Lies

When thoughtfully implemented, server-side tracking helps organizations:
Reduce data loss from browser restrictions.

Maintain compliance and have access to marketing intelligence.

Improve website speed and performance by eliminating the number of client-side scripts.

Have better attribution across the iOS and multi-device journeys.

Final Word

Server-side tracking to be introduced into your organization in 2025 has many benefits, but it won’t always be necessary. Server-side tracking is a real asset for organizations with complex compliance requirements or organizations that are high-level digital advertisers, but for other organizations, the costs of server-side tracking and technical requirements might not outweigh the near-term benefits. In short, organizations that will be positioned to adapt to this privacy-first era of marketing measurement are those that properly evaluate feasibility and choose appropriate tools while they also develop server migrations that consider both compliance and accuracy.