Tracking glossary

A parameter an ad platform adds to the landing URL when someone clicks an ad: gclid for Google, fbclid for Meta, ttclid for TikTok, oppref for ChatGPT Ads. Store it with the lead or the order so the conversion can be credited to that click later.

Guide: Hosted Checkout Tracking: Build a First-Party Click ID Index

Google's way for tags to read the visitor's consent choices (ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization) and change what they store and send. Version 2 added the last two signals, and Google Ads requires them for traffic from the EEA.

Guide: Google Consent Mode v2: What Changed and What It Cannot Recover

Meta's server-to-server endpoint for conversion events. It runs next to the Meta Pixel, and both should send the same event ID so Meta counts each conversion once.

Guide: Meta (Facebook) Conversions API: What It Is and How It Works

Meta's managed option that copies Pixel events to the Conversions API from a cloud instance, with no server code to write. It only sends events to Meta, while a server-side GTM container can feed several platforms.

Guide: Meta Conversions API Gateway: Setup and Hosting Cost

How a platform recognizes one conversion that arrived twice, for example from the browser pixel and from the server. Meta pairs events by event name and event ID, so a purchase should carry the same ID, ideally the order ID, on both paths.

Guide: Meta CAPI Deduplication: Use Order ID as event_id

Meta's 0 to 10 score for how well the customer information sent with a server event (email, phone, click ID, IP address and others) can be matched to a Meta account.

Guide: Meta Event Match Quality Score: What EMQ Actually Measures

A cookie set under the domain the visitor is on. Browsers block it less than a third-party cookie, and one your own server sets in an HTTP response usually lasts longer in Safari than one set by JavaScript.

Guide: First-Party vs Third-Party Cookies: What Actually Changed

GA4's API for sending events from a server. Each event needs the visitor's client ID, and a server purchase also needs the session ID of a recent session, or its revenue lands under (not set) instead of the campaign that brought the buyer.

Guide: Why GA4 Shows (not set) Revenue on Server-Side Purchases

A conversion that happens off the website, such as a sale closed by phone or WhatsApp, uploaded to the ad platform later with the click ID or customer data that ties it to the ad.

Guide: Google Ads Offline Conversion Tracking: How It Works and How to Trust It

Google Tag Manager running in a server container on your own subdomain, hosted on Google Cloud or a provider such as Stape. It receives events from the site or from webhooks and forwards them to platform APIs like Meta CAPI and GA4.

Guide: Server-Side GTM: What sGTM Is, How It Works, and Where to Host It

Sending conversion events from a server you control instead of only from the visitor's browser. Ad blockers and browser limits drop fewer events, and you decide what data each platform receives.

Guide: What Is Server-Side Tracking? A Practical Guide for Media Buyers and Agencies

A cookie set by a domain other than the one in the address bar, usually an ad network's script. Safari blocks them by default and Firefox blocks known trackers and walls off the rest per site, so measurement that depends on them loses data.

Guide: First-Party vs Third-Party Cookies: What Actually Changed

TikTok's server-to-server endpoint for conversion events, its counterpart to Meta's Conversions API. It deduplicates against the TikTok Pixel when both send the same event name and event ID.

Guide: TikTok Events API with GTM: Pixel Deduplication and Server Setup

An HTTP request one system sends to another when something happens, such as Stripe or Hotmart reporting a paid order. Tracking purchases from the payment-succeeded webhook records paid orders only, even when the buyer never reaches the thank-you page.

Guide: Stripe Conversion Tracking: Track Sales in GA4 & Google Ads