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Server-side GTM, built to survive ad blockers

A server container in your own cloud, with GA4, Meta CAPI and the ad platforms routed through it. Deployed, documented and handed over — not rented from an agency dashboard.

Between a quarter and a third of browser-side tag traffic never arrives. Ad blockers stop it, iOS shortens the cookies that survive, and the in-app browsers inside TikTok and Instagram break the rest. Server-side tagging moves the collection point off the browser and onto infrastructure you control, so the events that fund your bidding actually reach the platforms.

You probably need this if

  • Meta reports materially fewer conversions than your CRM settles
  • GA4 and your ad platforms disagree on the same week by more than rounding
  • Event Match Quality sits below 6 and nobody is sure why
  • Safari and iOS traffic converts "worse" than Android in a way the product does not explain
  • Your tags are heavy enough to show up in Core Web Vitals

What gets delivered

A server container in your cloud
Google Cloud Run, or your existing infrastructure. Your project, your billing, your access — the container does not live in my account.
A first-party collection subdomain
Properly delegated, with the certificate and the DNS documented, so cookies are set first-party and survive.
GA4 and Meta CAPI routed server-side
With deduplication against the existing browser tags, so you can run both while you verify rather than cutting over blind.
Consent Mode v2 wired correctly
Moving the tags does not move the obligation. Consent state travels with the event instead of being dropped at the boundary.
A spec your team can maintain
Every tag, trigger and variable documented, with the reasoning. The handover is the deliverable, not a support contract.

How it runs

  1. Measurement auditWhat fires today, what is lost, and what the gap is worth in spend. If server-side is not your bottleneck, this is where I say so.
  2. Container and domainServer container stood up, subdomain delegated, certificates issued, logging turned on.
  3. Route and deduplicateGA4 and CAPI moved across, running alongside the browser tags until the numbers agree.
  4. Verify and hand overMatch quality checked against the platforms, spec written, walkthrough with whoever maintains it.
Scoped projectScoped4–8 weeks · fixed scope agreed before it starts

Most engagements begin with the $3,000 attribution audit and move up only if it finds something worth building.

Written up in detail

Server-Side GTM Hosting Cost: A Real BreakdownCloud Run's real floor is three instances, not one. Stape bills incoming requests, not events. Cloudflare stopped being a proxy-only option in April 2026. Published rates with the arithmetic shown - and the line items nobody puts on a pricing page.Consent Mode v2 with Server-Side GTM: What ChangesGoing server-side changes where a tag fires, not whether it was allowed to - and it removes three safety nets that used to cover for a sloppy consent setup. How consent actually reaches the server container, why non-Google tags fire regardless, and the denied-state test nobody runs.Meta CAPIG and CAPI: Server-Side Tracking ExplainedBrowser-side trackers lose up to 30% of data to ad blockers and iOS 14. We look at how Server-Side Tracking (CAPI) and the CAPIG gateway rescue analytics and cut CPA.First-Party Data and DWH: Why Build Your OwnGDPR, CCPA, and the death of third-party cookies make dependence on Meta and Google dangerous. We look at how enterprise companies are saving marketing with the Modern Data Stack and Reverse ETL.

Questions I get asked

What does it cost to run each month?

Hosting is usually the smaller number — a low-traffic container runs from tens of dollars a month, and scales with request volume rather than seats. The cost that matters is engineering time, which is why the spec and handover are part of the delivery.

Do we have to turn off the browser tags?

No, and you should not do it on day one. Both run in parallel with deduplication until the server-side numbers reconcile with what you already trust.

Will this get us around consent requirements?

No. Server-side tagging changes where events are collected, not whether you are allowed to collect them. Consent Mode v2 is part of the build for exactly that reason.

Can our team maintain it afterwards?

That is the point of the spec and the walkthrough. If you would rather not, the fractional retainer covers ongoing ownership at $2,500 a month.

Start with the audit

A read-only review of how your funnel is measured, and whether server-side is actually your constraint.

Book the audit call