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Google Floodlight

This guide provides a step-by-step approach to setting up Google Floodlight Counter and Google Floodlight Sales using server-side Google Tag Manager.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

  • Google Floodlight: Access to a Campaign Manager 360 account. This is necessary to retrieve IDs and will be useful for testing events.

  • Web Google Tag Manager (GTM): Access to a web GTM container that is already implemented on your website and sends GA4 events to the server-side GTM. Learn how to share access to a GTM container here.

  • Server-side GTM container: A server-side GTM container provisioned by  Usercentrics, available via a first-party endpoint, and configured to process GA4 events. Learn how to set up a server-side GTM provided by Usercentrics here.

Benefits of Server-Side Tagging with Google Floodlight

  • Improved Data Accuracy: Server-side tagging bypasses ad blockers and browser privacy restrictions (like ITP/ETP), resulting in more reliable and complete conversion data.

  • Improved Website Performance: Instead of the user's browser having to load and execute multiple tracking scripts from different vendors, the client-side only needs to send a single, lightweight data stream (e.g., a GA4 event) to your server-side GTM endpoint. The server then handles the heavy lifting of dispatching the conversion to Floodlight and other platforms, which drastically reduces the number of HTTP requests and scripts running in the browser, leading to faster page load times.

  • Enhanced Data Control: You decide exactly what data to share with Google, allowing you to enrich or anonymize information to comply with privacy regulations (GDPR/CCPA). Shifting tagging from the browser to the server may also reduce the load on the JavaScript thread in the browser, improving site speed and Web Vitals, which can positively impact SEO.

Rollout plan

Create a Conversion Linker tag, as well as a Google Floodlight Counter and Google Floodlight Sales Tags.

  • The Conversion Linker tag is essential for connecting ad clicks with subsequent conversions. It works by automatically detecting ad click information in your landing page URLs and storing it in a first-party cookie on your server's domain. This helps ensure accurate conversion attribution, even in browsers with stricter privacy settings that block third-party cookies.

  • The Floodlight Counter tag is used to measure non-transactional user actions, such as page views, newsletter sign-ups, or form submissions. It counts how many times a user performs a specific action after clicking on one of your ads. You can configure it to count every conversion, one per user, or one per user per session, depending on your tracking objective.

  • The Floodlight Sales tag is designed to track transactional events, such as a purchase on an e-commerce site. It measures not only the conversion itself but also captures dynamic data like revenue, order ID, and the number of items sold. This allows you to measure the monetary value of your conversions and the effectiveness of your campaigns in driving sales.

The final state will then capture a user journey like the one pictured below. The Conversion Linker tag will make sure the user’s ad click ID is preserved. The Counter tag will register the user’s non-transactional interests and finally, the Sales tag will provide feedback about the advertising campaign's success to Floodlight.

SST data flow with Google Floodlight

Step 1: Set up the Conversion Linker tag

  1. In the left-hand navigation, click Tags - New.

  2. Choose the Conversion Linker tag type from the list of built-in tags.

  3. Check either Accept incoming linker parameters or Override cookie settings (advanced) or none.

    1. Accept Incoming Linker Parameters:
      This setting tells the server-side tag to look for and process linker parameters (like _gl) from the incoming URL. You should enable this when your user journey spans multiple domains and you need to pass ad click information from one site to another for accurate attribution.

    2. Override Cookie Settings (Advanced):
      This option gives you manual control over the name, domain, and path of the first-party cookie set by the tag. You should only use this for highly specific, complex use cases, such as preventing cookie naming conflicts or restricting a cookie's scope to a particular subdomain.

  4. Set up the Triggering. The Conversion Linker tag must fire on every incoming request that potentially contains the ad click information. The best practice is to use a trigger that fires on all Page View requests (or equivalent), such as the All Pages trigger in the server container.

  5. Give your tag a descriptive name (e.g., "Conversion Linker - Server-side") and Save it.

Step 2: Retrieve your Advertiser ID, Group Tag String and Activity Tag String

  1. If you have Google Floodlight Tags in your GTM web container you want to migrate to the server-side Tag Manager, use the Advertiser ID, the Group Tag String and the Activity Tag String from your Google Floodlight Tag in the web container.

  2. If you do not have those tags in your GTM web container, in your Campaign Manager 360 account go to the Floodlight Activities tab. You will see the following information:

    1.  **Advertiser ID** (`src`): The Advertiser ID is a unique numeric value assigned to your advertiser account. You can find it displayed prominently on the advertiser's main page, often right under the advertiser's name. This ID is a high-level identifier that applies to all your Floodlight tags.

2.  **Group Tag String** (`type`): This string is used to group related Floodlight activities for reporting purposes. You will find it in the table as the Group tag string column. When you create a new Floodlight activity, you either select an existing group or create a new one, which is assigned a unique tag string.

3.  **Activity Tag String** (`cat`): This is the specific identifier for the individual conversion event you're tracking (e.g., `purchase`, `lead_form`, `signup`). You will find this string in the table under the Activity tag string column. It's the most granular identifier for a single Floodlight tag.

  3. Copy your Advertiser ID, your Group Tag String and your Activity Tag String.

Practical Tip: Using an existing Floodlight Tag

If you want to quickly see all three parameters together, you can inspect an existing Floodlight tag. The three parameters are clearly labeled within the tag's URL as src, type, and cat and are separated by a semicolon. For example: In this example: - 1234567 is your Advertiser ID (src). - xyz-group is your Group Tag String (type). - purchase is your Activity Tag String (cat).

Step 3: Set up the Google Floodlight Counter tag

  1. Create the Tag: In your server-side GTM workspace, go to Tags - New and select the Floodlight Counter tag type.

  2. Enter Tag Details: Fill in the Advertiser ID, Group Tag String, and Activity Tag String you retrieved from your Campaign Manager 360 (CM360) account.

  3. Choose Counting Method: Select the appropriate counting method (Standard, Unique, or Per Session) based on your tracking goal.

  4. Configure Custom Variables (Optional): If you have custom variables (u-variables) defined in CM360, such as a user's sign-up status, you will need to map them here. To do this, create a new Event Data Variable in server-side GTM for each custom variable and then link it to the corresponding u-variable field in the tag configuration.

  5. Set the Trigger: Create a Custom Event trigger that fires when a specific event is received by your server-side GTM container (e.g., newsletter_signup).

Step 4: Set up the Google Floodlight Sales tag

  1. Create the Tag: In your server-side GTM workspace, go to Tags - New and select the Floodlight Sales tag type.

  2. Enter Tag Details: Just like with the counter tag, input your Advertiser ID, Group Tag String, and Activity Tag String from CM360.

  3. Map Dynamic Variables: This is the most crucial step. The Floodlight Sales tag requires you to map the Revenue and Order ID fields. Use the Event Data Variables that contain the transaction details passed from your client-side container (e.g., GA4):

    • Revenue: Map to an Event Data Variable like {{Event Data.value}}.

    • Order ID: Map to an Event Data Variable like {{Event Data.transaction_id}}.

  4. Configure Custom Variables (Optional): If you need to send additional data like a promo code or product details, you can use custom variables and map them from your event data. You might need to use a Custom Javascript Variable to format complex data structures, like product lists, into a single, comma-separated string for a single u-variable.

  5. Set the Trigger: Create a Custom Event trigger that fires specifically for the purchase event (e.g., purchase).

Step 5: Troubleshooting and Publishing

Use the server-side GTM’s Preview Mode to thoroughly test and debug the tags, ensuring they fire at the correct time and send the expected data. This proactive step helps avoid data discrepancies and ensures accurate campaign measurement. After reviewing the tags, publish your workspace.