Server-side Tracking for Google Analytics 4

After being the industry’s first choice for over a decade, Universal Analytics was completely replaced by Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in 2023.

Although both tools come from Google, they are quite different: Universal Analytics is a page-based tracking tool, while GA4 tracks event-based.

What is the advantage of Google Analytics 4 with JENTIS?

Unlike Universal Analytics, the anonymisation of personal data, specifically the IP address, is preset in GA4. But in order to be able to carry out such automatic anonymisation, Google must first receive the data and process it accordingly. This means that the data is considered to be stored at Google for at least a short period of time, which means that anonymisation takes place too late and can therefore only be DSGVO-compliant with an active data protection agreement between the EU and the USA (in force from 2023: Data Privacy Framework).

Therefore, for sustainable legal certainty, a tool is needed that ensures that personal data can already be pseudonymised before it is transmitted to Google. The solution lies in the use of server-side tracking technology from a European provider such as JENTIS.

Universal data model

JENTIS implements a generic data structure. This data can be used for any tool and any data structure – JENTIS takes care of the translation. Variables can be customised, mapped and anonymised so that you remain independent of tools and versions.

The switch to server-side GA4 is simple

As soon as websites move to GA4 with JENTIS server-side tracking, there is no need to push new data into the data layer or change the front-end applications, JENTIS automatically takes care of the transition of events and data structure. This way, all historical data can be made usable for GA4 and any other tool, no matter what changes are in store for the future.

The Analytics Switch

After implementation on server side tracking with JENTIS, you will get a parallel setup of the current and the new GA4 property. During the parallel setup, there is enough time to tune the tracking and ensure that the data flows in smoothly. This data helps to measure all marketing activities and target advertising campaigns.

Do you have any questions? We look forward to hearing from you!

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