Is server-side tracking just better reporting?

The TL;DR version

No, server-side tracking is NOT just better reporting … on one condition: if you also send the recovered data back to your ad platforms. And if you don't, then yes, it's just better reporting.

Send those recovered conversions to Google, Meta, and whatever else you run ads on, and you change what those platforms use to decide who sees your ads. That's not just reporting anymore. That’s optimizing.

When server-side tracking is just better reporting

If you don't send the recovered data to your ad platforms, server-side tracking essentially gives you more accurate tracking. 

And that’s already a good thing. You’ll know what converts, but it won't change how your ads perform as you can only get that once you send the data back.

Now, it’s worth noting that better reporting alone still matters more than it sounds like it should as the conversions your pixel misses aren't random. 

For instance, data suggests that a significant part of those could be from iPhone users, Safari, and privacy-conscious visitors. And if you don't count them, you'll end up spending less on the channels that bring in those customers, … without knowing you’re missing out on the opportunity.

What sending complete conversion data back unlocks

Conversions you send to Meta, Google, ChatGPT or TikTok do more than just improve your attribution reporting.

Platforms use the complete conversion data you send back to decide who to show your ads to next, and how much to pay for that.

It's also what builds your retargeting and lookalike audiences: simply put, an ad platform can only find more people like your real customers if it actually knows who your real customers are to begin with. Send them incomplete data (e.g. browser-side tracking usually misses 40 to 70% of conversions), and they’ll build a totally wrong picture of your customers, and spend your budget chasing more people who look like that wrong picture.

(real) Server-side tracking fixes that.

It matches your real conversions to the right people, primarily through the click ID, backed up by hashed contact details like email or phone.

That gives the ad platform data that actually looks like your customers, not just whoever made it past a cookie banner.

"After one month of using Tracklution, we saw an increase of 33.6% of purchase events from Google Ads," 

— Víctor Caride Sáez, Martech manager, Santander Nordics

> Read how Santander Consumer Bank recovers +33,6% purchases with server-side tracking

That's not a nicer number in a report. That's 33.6% more real purchases the ad platform now knows about, every day, feeding straight into who it decides to target next.

Now, with a server-side tracking solution like Tracklution, that data can also come from offline sources.

For instance, a CRM-verified qualified lead, a closed deal, or a subscription renewal can be sent to your server through a webhook, and forwarded to your ad platforms the same way a website conversion would be, so the algorithms learn to find people who actually turn into paying customers, not just more people to engage with your ads.

Framery (manufacturer of soundproof pods and workplace solutions) is building toward exactly that: feeding recovered conversion data into Salesforce to power lead scoring, with the ad platforms as the next stop for that same signal.

> Read how Framery close their lead attribution gap with server-side tracking.

Optimize for profit, not just revenue

Because the data passes through your server first, you decide what a conversion is actually worth to your ad platforms, and whether it should count at all (meaning the server does more than just recovering or enriching the data).

And that's what makes POAS (profit on ad spend) bidding possible. 

Instead of sending raw revenue as your conversion value, your server can attach the real margin on a sale, so the algorithm optimizes toward profit instead of only looking at revenue.

And you can also hold conversions back from your ad platforms entirely (refunds, internal test orders, etc.).

In short, server-side tracking gives you a chance to decide what counts as a conversion in the first place.

So, is server-side tracking just better reporting?

Not quite, and you shouldn’t set up server-side tracking to see a bigger number. 

You should set it up so the platforms spending your ad budget are working from real customer data, not a partial view of them. From there, they can begin a virtuous optimization cycle to ramp up your advertising performance.