Adobe Experience Platform Tags (Launch) SST Implementation

Overview

We offer an Adobe Experience Platform Tags (formerly Adobe Launch) extension that lets you deploy Server-Side Tagging (SST) without coding. This makes setup faster, reduces reliance on developers, and enables teams to benefit from improved performance, data control, and security.

The CHEQ Manage - Server-Side Tagging extension is available in the Adobe Tags Extensions catalog and has two parts:

• Extension configuration: loads and configures the SST Web SDK on every page where your Tags library runs, but sends no events by default.
• Send SST Event action: sends individual events (e.g. page view, add to cart, purchase) to your SST instance. Add it to any rule.

The Web SDK is included in your Tags library, so no extra script is downloaded and no rule is needed to load it.

Web SDK Configuration

First, install and configure the extension. The SDK starts automatically when the Tags library loads, before any rule runs, and is configured only once per page.

Install the extension in your property

1. In Adobe Experience Platform Data Collection, go to Tags and open your property.
2. Navigate to the Extensions section and click the Catalog tab.
3. Type in CHEQ and click on the CHEQ Manage - Server-Side Tagging extension.
4. Click Install. The extension configuration opens.
   

Already using the extension? Open Extensions > Installed and click Upgrade on the CHEQ extension when a new version is available, then rebuild and publish your library. Because the SDK is part of the Tags library, SDK updates reach your site only after the library is rebuilt.

Configure the Web SDK

Every text field, including table cells, accepts data elements. Click the data element button next to a field, or type the data element name between percent signs (e.g. %cheqAccount%).

1. For Account Name, enter your Manage account name. This field is required.
2. For Domain, enter your first-party domain for the SST tagging beacons (recommended). Otherwise, leave the default third-party domain, t.nc0.co.
3. For Data Layer Name, enter the name of your data layer on the window object (default is "adobeDataLayer", the Adobe Client Data Layer). If your site uses a different data layer, such as digitalData, enter its name. Leave the field blank to send no data layer.
4. Enter any additional configuration options. Each group below is collapsed by default; expand it only if you need it.
   1. Custom Data
      Custom data that you can add to the SST event that might not be in your data layer. Any data specified will be automatically added to a window JavaScript variable named "customData" available within the SST browser.
   2. Storage
      Automatically set cookies, localStorage, or sessionStorage in the SST instance with key/value pairs where the key is the name of the cookie or storage item to set and the value is the value of the cookie or storage item.
   3. Integrations
      Select the integrations to enable for the vendors you use with server-side tagging. Integrations are off unless selected.
      • Bing UET: the Bing identifiers are automatically passed and set in the SST instance so that Bing UET tags work without any customization.
      • CHEQ Enforce (Ensighten Privacy): consent is automatically passed and set in the SST instance.
      • Google Ads & Floodlight: the Google identifiers are automatically passed and set in the SST instance so that Google Ads and Floodlight tags work without any customization.
   4. Advanced Options
      1. Batch Events?
         When enabled (the default), SST events are queued and sent together. Use Dispatch Batched Events to choose when:
         • Every # milliseconds: send queued events on a timer, set in Dispatch Batched Events After ms (default is 5000ms).
         • Until page refresh/change: send queued events only when the page is hidden or unloaded.
      2. Publish Path
         The default publish path for tags to load (default is "sst"). When using more than one SST space, specify the publish path so requests from this property invoke the correct SST space. Individual events can override it (see Publish Path Override below).
      3. Nexus Host
         The host to load tags from. Leave blank in most cases: Development builds and Tags debug mode automatically use nexus-test.ensighten.com, and all other builds use nexus.ensighten.com.
      4. Data Layer Array/Object
         Only needed if your data layer is not a window object named by Data Layer Name. Select a data element that returns the data layer array or object. Only used when a Data Layer Name is set.
      5. Custom Parameters
         Custom parameters that you can add to the SST request such as 'cw_xyz' for writing cookies to the browser. Each parameter name must be unique.
      6. Virtual Browser Overrides
         Override specific virtual browser values sent with the SST request. Choose a Field and enter the Value to send. Available fields: Global Privacy Control, Language, Page URL, Referrer, Screen Depth, Screen Height, Screen Width, Title, Timezone, Viewport Height, and Viewport Width. Screen and viewport sizes are sent as numbers.
      7. High Entropy User-Agent Hints
         Select the High Entropy User-Agent Hints to collect: Architecture, Bitness, Form Factors, Full Version List, Model, Platform Version, UA Full Version, and WoW64. The values are added to the virtual browser data sent with the SST request. If no hints are selected, none are requested or sent. While the browser collects them, events are held for up to 1 second. To choose the hints dynamically, select a data element in High Entropy User-Agent Hints Data Element that returns an array of hint names (e.g. ["model", "platformVersion"]); it replaces the hints selected above.
      8. Before Send Function
         Custom code that runs before each SST request is sent. A single parameter, context, is passed with the keys src (the request URL) and body (the request body as a JSON object). Change context in place or return a replacement; returning null or false drops the request. Code with a syntax error can't be saved.
5. Click Save.
   

Events

The Send SST Event action sends the events you want to track, such as page view, add to cart, or view content. Each event tracked should have its own rule, or its own Send SST Event action. The rule's event decides when the event is sent, for example on page load, a click, a form submission, or a direct call.

If an event is sent before the SDK has finished loading, it is queued and sent once the SDK initializes, so rule order doesn't matter.

Configure an Event

Follow the steps below to create an event for “page_view”. These steps can be replicated for other events.

1. Navigate to the Rules section and click Add Rule.
2. Name the rule CHEQ SST - event - page_view.
3. Under Events, click Add. Choose Extension: Core and Event Type: Library Loaded (Page Top), then click Keep Changes.
4. Under Actions, click Add. Choose Extension: CHEQ Manage - Server-Side Tagging and Action Type: Send SST Event.
5. For Event Name, enter page_view. This field is required. If it resolves to an empty value when the rule runs (for example, from an empty data element), no event is sent.

6. Add any dynamic data to pass with the page_view event. Note that the data layer set in the extension configuration is automatically passed, so there’s no need to repeat data layer values here.

   • Event Data Object (optional): a data element that returns an object to send as the event's data, such as an ecommerce object. If the data element returns no value, only the Event Data pairs are sent. If it returns something other than an object, no event is sent.
   • Event Data: key/value pairs sent as the event's data. These are added on top of the Event Data Object and take precedence if the same key appears in both. A __timestamp field is added automatically unless you provide one.

   A value that is exactly one data element (e.g. %cartTotal%) keeps the data element's type, so numbers, booleans, and objects are sent as they are. Any other value, including text mixed with a data element, is sent as text.

7. Enter any other fields in the Advanced Options section:

   • Do Not Batch Event: if event batching is enabled in the extension configuration, send this event right away instead of batching it. Useful for events that happen right before the page changes, such as a purchase or form submission.
   • Publish Path Override: the SST publish path to send this event to. If left blank, the default publish path configured in the extension configuration is used.
   • Custom Data: key/value pairs added to the SST event that may not be in your data layer, available as the "customData" variable within the SST browser.
   • Custom Parameters: key/value pairs added to the SST request, such as 'cw_xyz' for writing cookies to the browser.

   Keys in each table must be unique.

8. Click Keep Changes, then Save.
   

Testing and Validating

You can test your changes before publishing to production by building your library to the Development environment. Development builds, and any page with Tags debug mode enabled, send requests to the CHEQ test environment (nexus-test.ensighten.com) instead of production (nexus.ensighten.com), unless Nexus Host is set.

1. Go to Publishing Flow and click Add Library. Name it, choose the Development environment, click Add All Changed Resources, and then Save & Build for Development.
2. Visit a page that loads your Development library (or use the Adobe Experience Platform Debugger to load it on your site) and open your browser’s Developer Tools.
3. In the Console tab, run _satellite.setDebug(true) and refresh the page. Lines starting with CHEQ SST: show that the SDK was configured and each event was sent. Any problems, such as an Event Data Object that isn't an object, are also logged here.
4. In the Network tab, add a filter for SST, and refresh the page.
5. An entry similar to the one below should appear after the refresh, showing that the SST beacon(s) have executed. With batching enabled, events are sent after the batch interval (5 seconds by default). If Dispatch Batched Events is set to Until page refresh/change, batched events are sent when you leave or refresh the page, so enable Preserve log in the Network tab to see them.
6. Once you're happy with the results, move the library through your Staging and Production environments in Publishing Flow to publish the changes to your live site.

An example of how this may be shown in the network tab: