Don’t let adblockers disrupt your data, with the new Self-Hosted Pixel

In an age where some websites shove in more ads than halftime at the Superbowl, it’s understandable that 43% of people now use some kind of adblocker.

According to the Digital Trends report, the top reasons for using an ad blocker are:

• 22.3% – Excessive amounts of ads
• 22.3% – The irrelevance of ad messages
• 19.9% – Ads are too intrusive
• 16.7% – Ads take up too much screen space
• 16.5% – Ads might contain viruses or bugs

And we agree with that. Ad overload makes the internet worse for everyone, so we respect people’s choice to block them. 

Blocking more than just ads

Unfortunately, other tools can get caught in the net.

For example, many adblockers stop Google Analytics from running, despite that it has nothing to do with displaying ads. It has many uses for website owners, such as monitoring that everything is running smoothly.

Some extensions also block the Facebook Pixel, in a quest to stop Zuckerberg and co. from watching you across every website. Combine this with the iOS changes, and measuring RoAS becomes a real challenge.

Even tools such as Google Tag Manager are often blocked, despite just being a container.

Dressing the part

SegMetric’s snippet plays by the rules. 

We don’t have anything to do with showing ads…

We don’t watch visitors anywhere other than your website…

We only save data about people who submit their email…

But, a few services take a sledgehammer approach that stops our snippet from loading. They stop any 3rd party javascript snippets from running, despite that this includes completely innocent tools.

But, our new Self-Hosted Pixel lets SegMetrics dress the part.

Think of an ad blocker like a simple security guard. If you walk past the desk wearing the company’s uniform, he’ll let you go past. But if you look like an outsider, you’ll be stopped and inspected.

With the Self-Hosted Pixel, the snippet will be dressed to look like part of your website’s infrastructure. Ad blockers won’t stop data from going back to the original domain, so you get 100% of your visitor data.

Performance tracking for every visit

Setting up the Self-Hosted Pixel only takes a few steps to configure. You will then get the full advantage of server-side tracking, but without the complex setup.

1. Add a new CNAME record so your server talks to SegMetrics

2. Enable the Self-Hosted Pixel option in the settings and message the domain name to our support team so they can double-check to make sure everything is configured correctly!

3. Copy the updated SegMetrics Tracking Pixel onto your site to use your new Self-Hosted Pixel

That’s it! Your SegMetrics pixel will run smoothly for every visitor to your site, giving you even more accurate data.

Start Hosting Your Pixel

If you have a SegMetrics account, then read the support doc for more detailed instructions for how to configure your pixel.

Or if you’re not yet a user, go ahead and grab yourself a free 14 day trial.