Server-Side Tracking uses a cloud server as an intermediary between a visitor's browser and your third-party ad or analytics platforms.

With this setup, the server receives user data first, processes it using a Google Tag Manager container, and then sends the relevant info to your desired ad platforms like Facebook or Google Ads.

And when implemented correctly, this can help reduce data loss due to Safari ITP and iOS restrictions, as well as decrease the impact of ad blockers.

ClickMagick does those things too, but that's where the similarities end.

Let's look at the problems that Server-Side Tracking can't fix for you ...

Depending on your business, it could be weeks or even months before customers fully engage or make a purchase.

That’s why ClickMagick tracks your visitors “forever,” so even if you have a longer sales cycle all conversions are tracked properly.

With ClickMagick, even if someone buys 6 months after clicking your ad, we’ll still track that sale all the way back to the original ad they clicked — and their entire journey inbetween.

But Google Ads has an attribution window of just 30-90 days, which means any conversions or sales more than 30-90 days after someone clicks your ad won’t be tracked by the Google Tag at all.

And Facebook is even worse with just a 7-day attribution window.

On average that means over 25% of your conversions won't be tracked for this single reason alone ...

And that messes up all your stats, it degrades ad optimization, and it completely prevents accurate Customer Lifetime Value tracking.

Imagine someone clicks your ad right now but quickly bounces ...

Then, some time over the next week, something else catches their attention and they ultimately buy something from you.

Maybe it’s an ad you're running on another platform, one of your YouTube videos, or something you posted on TikTok ...

At this point the first ad they clicked a week ago — and have probably completely forgotten — may have contributed nothing to generating the conversion ...

... yet the Google Tag and Facebook Pixel will still take full credit for the sale.

That's because they're both desperate to show results — so you keep giving them your money — even if those results are not very accurate ...

And this type of “greedy” attribution just muddies the waters even more.

Believe it or not, ad network attribution is even more greedy than that ...

Their attribution system actually takes credit for conversions that occur even if a user doesn’t actually click your ad.

Crazy right? These are known as “view-through conversions” ...

Once your ad is shown to someone on Facebook or Google, if they later engage with any other marketing you do, the Google Tracking Tag and Facebook Pixel are once again going to take full credit for the sale.

That’s right, Facebook and Google take credit even though the user didn’t click — and there’s a good chance they didn’t even see — your ad at all.

At this point the stats in your Facebook or Google Ads account are getting ridiculously inaccurate, but we're not done yet ...

The average person owns 3 devices and constantly switches between them.

This is a big problem for Facebook and Google, because their “cross-device” tracking relies on users being logged in on all their devices all the time.

But studies show that Google users are only logged in to Google about 61% of the time while using the Internet ...

And it's about the same for Facebook.

Which means when your visitors switch devices, there's a roughly 40% chance that Facebook and Google won't track them properly.

The same thing happens when people switch to private browsing mode right before making a purchase (which they do all the time) ...

The Facebook Pixel and Google Tracking Tag can no longer identify the user, so they have no idea where the sale came from.

And this leads to even less accurate stats, and even worse ad optimization.

You’d think it couldn’t get much worse, but all of this bad data in your Facebook or Google Ads account is indeed made even worse by their extensive use of “data sampling” and “modeling.”

What this means to you, in plain English, is this:

They know that they can't track everything, so they use conversion modeling to "predict unobserved conversions."

And they also have way too much data to effectively analyze in a short period of time, so they use data sampling to “improve reporting performance.”

So, basically, most of the stats they give you are just “best guesses.”

That’s right. By their own admission, they use data sampling and data modeling methods to estimate your stats. "Just trust us" they say.

But hopefully it goes without saying that estimated stats are not good enough when you’re trying to optimize your ads and your money is on the line ...

I could go on and on but hopefully you get the picture — you simply can’t rely on the stats in your Facebook or Google Ads account.

Growing your business with paid ads is just a matter of scaling what’s working and killing what’s not, but you can’t do that effectively with the inadequate tracking and attribution they provide.

But that's only the half of it, because Facebook and Google’s AI algorithms are also using this bad data to optimize your ads and find you customers.

And bad data means their AI ad optimization doesn't work as well...

... which means they end up showing your ads to people who are less likely to engage with your business, and your results and ROI both suffer.

On the other hand, ClickMagick sends your enhanced, first-party conversion data to ad networks in real-time, with extreme precision and accuracy.

And because ClickMagick's attribution is so accurate, we can always send back the ad network “click id” and the other data they're hungry for ...

Which leads to increased “event match quality” scores, improved ad optimization and increased ad ROI. Guaranteed.

In addition to fixing all of these problems, only ClickMagick gives you the direct response stats and reports you need to truly optimize and scale.

Here's what you get with ClickMagick:

And you can see each and every one of these stats for each and every traffic source, campaign or ad you have!

ClickMagick has better and more visual reporting as well.

The UTM Performance Report identifies your best and worst performing ads.

The Conversion Velocity Report reveals how long it takes visitors to convert.

The Lifetime Value Report shows you the cost to acquire a customer, how long it takes to breakeven, and how much customers are worth over time.

And the Funnel Steps Report paints a visual picture of the different paths visitors take through your funnel, and gives you the data you need to optimize your funnel for the most profitable paths.

I could go on, but you just don’t get these kinds of actionable, direct response stats and reports from Facebook or Google Ads.

“Bots” are automated software programs that click your links, click your ads and waste your money, and even “opt in” to your list.

Then you’ve got competitors, and other people doing “market research” repeatedly clicking your ads ...

And even your own existing customers who search for you on Google and click your paid ad every time they want to get back to your site (happens a lot!)

Facebook and Google Ads don't protect you from any of this.

But ClickMagick has industry-leading bot filtering, and ClickShield™ ...

Which allows you to set up rules to define the type of click behavior that’s acceptable to your business, and block the rest.

That means more accurate stats, less wasted ad spend and increased ROAS.

ClickMagick has helped over 122,000 small businesses with tracking and attribution. I'd guess we have more experience with this than anyone.

And we're pretty well-known for our amazing support.

At ClickMagick, we offer onboarding calls, live chat, fast responses to tickets, and even Zoom support if you need it.

And many users have told us our support is better than anything they've ever experienced before, because ...

Our team consists of real marketers with decades of experience — not low-paid, outsourced “customer support” reps who've never run an ad.

You just can't get help like this anywhere else, and with all the recent and ongoing changes in the industry I really can't stress just how valuable this is.