Blog
Server-side tracking, Conversions API, and GTM guides for people who implement tracking for clients. Written from production setups, not theory.
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We Wired ChatGPT Ads Into Our Own Server-Side Stack. Here Is What Actually Mattered
A first-hand account of adding OpenAI's ChatGPT Ads pixel and Conversions API to a live server-side GTM setup with Stape: the pieces that were easy, the click-ID problem, and how we proved it was working without opening a dashboard.
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ChatGPT Ads Conversion Tracking: Pixel, Conversions API, and What Actually Attributes
How conversion tracking works on OpenAI's ChatGPT Ads: the oaiq pixel, the Conversions API, the oppref click ID, the 13 standard events, and the setup mistakes that silently cost you attribution.
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What oppref Is: The ChatGPT Ad Click ID, Explained
oppref is the click identifier OpenAI appends to your landing page after a ChatGPT ad click. What it looks like, where it is stored, how it differs from gclid and fbclid, and the four ways builds lose it.
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Conversions API Gateway: How It Works, What It Costs, and What It Leaves Unsolved
The Meta Conversions API Gateway routes Pixel web events to Meta from a server. Here is how it works, what hosting costs, and what it cannot fix.
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Google Analytics Conversion Tracking: GA4 Key Events and What It Cannot Verify
GA4 conversion tracking marks important events as key events and shares them with Google Ads. Here is how to set it up and what it cannot verify.
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Google Consent Mode v2: What Changed and What It Cannot Recover
Consent Mode v2 added two parameters that gate how Google Ads and GA4 record visitors who decline cookies. Learn what changed and where modeling stops.
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Facebook Conversions API: What It Is and How It Works
The Facebook Conversions API sends conversion events from your server to Meta. Learn what it is, how Meta matches your events, and what it cannot recover.
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First-Party vs Third-Party Cookies: What Actually Changed
First-party vs third-party cookies: who sets each, what they do, how Safari, Firefox, and Chrome treat them today, and what Google changed in 2025.
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TikTok Events API with GTM: Pixel Deduplication and Server Setup
Set up TikTok Events API with GTM, map Pixel and server events, share one event ID, improve matching, and validate purchases with webhooks.
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Stripe Conversion Tracking: How to Track Purchases That Actually Settled
What Stripe conversion tracking is, why the thank-you page double-counts, and how to count settled charges with a webhook-validated server container.
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Google Ads Offline Conversion Tracking: How It Works and How to Trust It
What offline conversion tracking is in Google Ads, how it pairs a GCLID or enhanced conversion with an offline event, and how to keep junk out of what you upload.
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Conversions API Gateway vs Server-Side GTM: Which One to Use
What the Meta Conversions API Gateway is, how it compares to running the Conversions API through a server-side GTM container, and how to choose between them.
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Server-Side GTM: What sGTM Is, How It Works, and Where to Host It
A guide to server-side GTM (sGTM): what it means, how a server container works, how it differs from client-side GTM, where to host it, and what it costs.
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Meta Conversions API with GTM Server-Side: A Practical Setup Guide
How the Meta Conversions API works, how it differs from the Meta Pixel, and how to run it through a GTM server container with deduplication and webhook validation.
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What Is Server-Side Tracking? A Practical Guide for Media Buyers and Agencies
What server-side tracking is, how a GTM server container works, what it actually fixes (and what it doesn't), and how to set it up without weeks of dev work.