This directory contains the documentation for the Google Tag Manager setup for simonask.io.

Our tracking system uses a hybrid model combining a traditional Client-Side Web Container with a Server-Side Container. This setup optimizes site performance, increases data privacy, and enables first-party cookie management.

The following diagram illustrates how user interactions on the website are tracked, evaluated for consent, routed through our server-side container, and dispatched to Google Analytics.

graph TD
    User([Visitor]) -->|Page Load / Click| WebGTM[Web GTM Container]
    
    subgraph "Client-Side (Browser)"
        WebGTM -->|Event & Consent| DL[dataLayer]
        DL -->|Check Consent| ConsentGate{Consent Granted?}
        ConsentGate -->|No| Suppressed[Hits Suppressed]
        ConsentGate -->|Yes| GA4Tags[GA4 Web Tags]
    end
    
    GA4Tags -->|HTTPS Post| ServerGTM[Server GTM Container]
    
    subgraph "Server-Side (GCP)"
        ServerGTM -->|Parse Request| GA4Client[GA4 Client]
        GA4Client -->|Forward Event| GA4ServerTag[GA4 Config Tag]
        GA4ServerTag -->|Lookup Host| LKP{Hostname}
        
        LKP -->|Staging Domain| Stage[GA4 Staging]
        LKP -->|Production Domain| Prod[GA4 Production]
    end
    
    Stage -->|Dispatch| GA_Stage([Google Analytics Staging])
    Prod -->|Dispatch| GA_Prod([Google Analytics Production])

The setup is split across two GTM containers. Please refer to their individual folders and documentation files for detailed configurations, including tags, triggers, and variables:

• Container ID: 253101870
• Public ID: GTM-KR894J8P
• Role: Captures browser interactions (page views, button clicks, form submissions, and scroll depth), checks cookie consent settings via the dataLayer, and packages these events to route to our server container.

• Container ID: 253113551
• Public ID: GTM-PS3KHKB6
• Role: Intercepts traffic at https://serverside.simonask.io, sets first-party client identifiers (FPID cookies), dynamically decides whether the traffic is testing (local/staging) or production, maps it to the correct Google Analytics Measurement ID, and forwards it to Google's servers.

• Consent is Mandatory: No tracking tags are fired on the client side unless the visitor grants analytics consent. Every custom event trigger explicitly gates itself with a {{DLV - analytics_consent}} filter.
• First-Party Routing: Do not route client-side tags directly to google-analytics.com. Always route tags through the server URL: https://serverside.simonask.io to ensure analytics requests originate from our own subdomain.
• Environment Separation: Hostname routing is handled dynamically in the Server container. There is no need to create separate tags or containers for stage and production websites. The server container reads the request origin and handles routing automatically.