A guide to server-side tagging hosting and choosing the right setup
As privacy regulations tighten and browsers limit third-party tracking, businesses are under pressure to rethink how they collect and manage user data.
Server-side tagging (SST) has emerged as a more accurate, secure, and resilient alternative to traditional client-side tracking in many scenarios. With an SST setup, event data is routed through a tagging server that you control, which gives you more say over which information is shared, where it’s processed, and how it’s used.
You have a number of options for how and where your tagging server is hosted. That decision can impact everything from privacy compliance and marketing performance to team workload and overall costs. This guide covers the most common hosting options to help you decide which setup is right for your business.
At a glance
- Server-side tagging provides a more accurate, secure, and privacy-compliant alternative to client-side tracking, especially as browser restrictions tighten.
- Choosing self-hosted, cloud, or fully managed SST determines how much control, complexity, and responsibility your team takes on.
- Every hosting model involves trade-offs among cost, data control, compliance risk, and required technical expertise.
- The right SST setup depends on performance goals, data residency needs, available technical capacity, and long-term scalability.
- Managed solutions like Usercentrics’ streamline setup, consent enforcement, and maintenance, enabling faster, more reliable, privacy-compliant server-side data collection.
Server-side tagging hosting explained
Marketers have traditionally relied on client-side tracking to measure user activity. In this setup, a script fires in the user’s browser when they interact with a website. The data that is collected is then sent directly to third-party analytics or ad platforms.
As data privacy laws and browser restrictions have tightened, it has become clear that this method of monitoring events has an expiration date. Server-side tagging solves that problem.
With SST, tracking tags still fire in the user’s web browser, but the event data is sent to a tagging server that you control or manage. That server runs your container and processes or filters all collected data before sending it to approved destinations.
What hosting options do you have when setting up SST?
Server-side tagging hosting addresses how and where you deploy the server layer that processes tracking data. You have a few options:
- Your own server cluster on a cloud provider like Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- A container in a function‑as‑a‑service (FaaS) environment like Google Cloud Run (GCR)
- A specialized managed hosting service like Usercentrics’
The type of hosting you opt for will depend on your business’s financial and personnel resources. For instance, running your own infrastructure means you’ll need to plan for provisioning, scaling, security patches, and changes to monitoring and vendor application programming interfaces (APIs). Using a hosting provider is less resource-intensive, but could become costly.
Your hosting choice will also influence your site’s performance, how much control you have over data routing, and how well you’re able to comply with data privacy regulations like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
Server-side tagging hosting setups compared
Making an informed decision about your SST hosting setup can help you handle third-party cookie deprecation, reduce data loss caused by browser restrictions, improve marketing attribution, and strengthen control over data processes.
Before you choose where to host your tagging server, it’s worth stepping back to consider what really matters: performance, cost, data privacy compliance, and internal capacity.
Each setup comes with trade-offs, and the right choice depends on how much flexibility, control, and technical involvement you’re looking for.
The cost of server-side tagging is another consideration. It can vary significantly depending on your traffic volume, hosting provider, and whether you choose a managed or self-managed setup. You’ll also need to factor in potential expenses for team resources, maintenance time, and any additional tools you may need.
If you operate in a regulated industry, or if your users are based in the EU, you may also need to comply with data residency rules. That could mean choosing a server that’s hosted in the EU to meet GDPR requirements for international data transfers.
Let’s take a closer look at the three SST hosting setup options to find the right fit for your business.
Self-hosted
A self-hosted setup gives you maximum control over your SST environment, but it also requires the most responsibility.
In this model, you manage the entire infrastructure where your tagging server runs, whether that’s on a private server or within your own cloud account on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Self-hosting requirements
Provision the server
Install and maintain the tagging container
Secure the environment
Scale to handle traffic
Verify that data flows correctly
You’re also responsible for configuring your own domain and integrating the tagging server with tools like Google Analytics 4 or Meta Ads.
A self-hosted setup enables full data ownership and fine-grained control over how and where data is processed, which is critically important for companies operating in highly regulated regions and sectors.
Still, it’s not for everyone. Self-hosting requires significant DevOps resources and ongoing effort to keep data secure and maintain privacy compliance. It also introduces more opportunities for misconfiguration, which could negatively impact performance and attribution accuracy while undermining data privacy compliance.
Pros
- Complete control over infrastructure, configuration, and data processing
- Ideal for meeting strict data security and residency requirements
- Supports fine-tuned optimization for performance and privacy
Cons
- Requires significant internal DevOps capacity and technical oversight
- You are responsible for setup and maintenance
- Higher risk of misconfiguration or data privacy compliance gaps without proper controls
Cloud platform hosting
Cloud platform hosting involves deploying your tagging server on a public cloud infrastructure like GCP, AWS, or Azure.
In this setup, you rent virtual servers where you install and run your SST container, usually the Google Tag Manager server container. However, you’re still responsible for provisioning, configuring, and maintaining the environment in which your server container works.
You choose the server specs, region, and scaling behavior, and you manage the container environment. That means this hosting setup gives you a higher degree of control, but it also means that you’re responsible for configuration, security patches, monitoring, and ongoing maintenance.
For example, many businesses choose to deploy a GTM server container on Google App Engine or Google Compute Engine. These services enable you to set up a custom subdomain (such as tags.yoursite.com), route events from the browser to your tagging server, and forward them to tools like Google Analytics 4 or Meta Ads.
While cloud platform hosting gives you a high degree of flexibility and control over your data collection practices, it still requires significant hands-on involvement compared to managed alternatives.
Pros
- Full control over your server configuration, data collection and routing, and scaling
- Capable of meeting strict GDPR data residency requirements
- Compatible with popular services like the Google Tag Manager server container
Cons
- Requires internal setup, updates, and infrastructure management
- You’ll need DevOps knowledge to effectively deploy, secure, and monitor the setup
- Usage-based billing can increase SST costs during traffic spikes
Managed service hosting
Managed hosting removes the complexity from setting up and running your server-side tagging environment. A third-party provider handles the technical setup, scaling, security, and monitoring for you.
This is the fastest and most hands-off way to get started with SST. It’s ideal for teams that don’t have in-house DevOps capacity or simply want to avoid the operational overhead.
You get the benefits of SST, such as greater control over data sharing and improved data quality, without having to manage the infrastructure layer yourself.
For instance, with Usercentrics you get a fully managed SST environment that includes pre-configured support for Google Analytics 4, Meta Ads, and Google Ads. It also integrates with Usercentrics CMP so that only consented data is processed and shared, which streamlines compliance with the GDPR and other data privacy regulations.
The trade-off is that managed hosting tends to cost more over time compared to DIY setups, especially at higher volumes. You also sacrifice some flexibility around server location and configuration. That said, the time savings and risk reduction make it the most efficient option overall.
Pros
- Quickest and easiest way to implement server-side tagging
- No need for internal DevOps or cloud expertise
- Includes maintenance, scaling, security, and vendor integration
Cons
- Can be more expensive than self-managed hosting options
- Less flexibility over server configuration and data routing
- Potentially less control over server location and data privacy settings
Tips for choosing the right SST hosting setup for your business
| Hosting type | Data control | Cost and resources | Compliance risk | Setup complexity |
| Self-hosted | High | High internal effort, lower direct cost | Low (if configured correctly) | High |
| Cloud hosting | Moderate | Moderate internal effort, variable cost | Moderate | Moderate |
| Managed hosting | Moderate | Lower internal effort, higher direct cost | Low | Low |
The best hosting setup for server-side tagging depends on which data privacy laws you must comply with, your team’s technical knowledge, performance expectations, your plans for growth, and your budget.
Data residency and regional compliance
If your business handles personal data across regions, pay close attention to data residency and transfer rules. For example, hosting in the EU may be necessary in some cases to support GDPR requirements related to data transfers and residency.
Technical capacity and internal resources
Your team’s technical capacity should also shape your decision. Companies with strong DevOps support might lean toward cloud or self-hosted options, while leaner teams often benefit from the speed and simplicity of a managed service.
Performance and scalability considerations
Consider performance and scalability. Server proximity, request handling, and auto-scaling capabilities can all affect how quickly data is processed and how reliably it reaches your downstream tools.
Cost and operational overhead
Financial and resource costs matter. Monthly hosting fees aren’t the only SST expense to keep in mind. The time required for maintenance and upkeep will affect the ongoing costs, so it’s wise to weigh infrastructure savings against the hidden cost of complexity.
Is setting up server-side tagging worth it? Here are 3 key benefits
While SST takes more effort to implement than traditional client-side tracking, the long-term advantages are often worth it. Here are three of the most important benefits of server-side tagging.
Benefits of server-side tagging
Data control and privacy: You decide what event data gets collected, and you’re in control of sending data to third parties. This helps you to stay compliant with the requirements of privacy laws and partner platforms’ policies while building user trust.
Enhanced data quality and reliability: You’re less reliant on browser tags that can be affected by ad blockers, tracking prevention, or poor network conditions. As a result, server-side data helps you better understand your audience.
Improved website performance: Offloading heavy third-party scripts to the server can speed up load times and reduce browser strain, leading to a better user experience and increased conversion rates.
How Usercentrics fits into your server-side hosting setup
Usercentrics Server‑Side Tagging solution combines server-side hosting and real-time consent management in one environment, which makes it easier to collect user data while complying with the requirements of major data privacy laws.
We take care of everything from provisioning the infrastructure and orchestrating tags to managing security and scaling. We also host your Google Tag Manager server container in our secure environment and seamlessly sync it with our CMP.
Real-time server-side consent signals are passed from the user’s browser and enforced before any tags are triggered to enable accurate, compliant data collection that’s driven by user choices.
Usercentrics Server‑Side Tagging also integrates with platforms like Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn, making it easy to maintain accurate measurement and privacy compliance without the overhead of managing multiple moving parts.
Our comprehensive approach simplifies SST and consent management, so your team can focus on using data to develop strategies that drive growth.