# Tracking Hippo — Full Reference

> Tracking Hippo is an EU-hosted, managed server-side Google Tag Manager (sGTM) hosting service with flat pay-as-you-go pricing, built for agencies and privacy-conscious businesses.

Operated by FrontLetter BV, Kwadestraat 155 - 5.3, 8800 Roeselare, Belgium. Enterprise number: 0694.877.811. VAT number: BE0694.877.811. Support: support@trackinghippo.io. Founded 2024.

## What Tracking Hippo does

Tracking Hippo hosts Google Tag Manager server containers on managed, 100% EU-based infrastructure. Instead of provisioning Google Cloud yourself, you paste your GTM server Container Config into Tracking Hippo, connect a custom tracking subdomain via a CNAME record, and your sGTM container is live in minutes. All data processing stays inside the EU, which simplifies GDPR compliance and data residency requirements.

Server-side tagging routes analytics and marketing events (GA4, Meta Conversions API, TikTok Events API, Google Ads, and any other sGTM tag) through your own first-party domain before forwarding them to vendors. Benefits: more complete data (resistant to ad blockers and browser tracking prevention), faster pages (less third-party JavaScript in the browser), and full control over what data is shared with which vendor.

## Pricing

- €15 per container per month (EUR, VAT excluded), billed per started day based on active containers (about €0.50 per container per started day).
- No tiers, no usage surprises: unlimited requests under a Fair Use Policy.
- Prepaid billing: add funds to your balance (or enable auto-recharge), and daily container charges are deducted from it.
- €10 free trial credit, no credit card required. Cancel anytime.
- Pricing page: https://trackinghippo.io/pricing

## Who it's for

- Marketing agencies: manage many client containers from multi-client workspaces (https://trackinghippo.io/for-agencies)
- WordPress / WooCommerce sites: works with the GTM4WP plugin — set the server-side container URL to your Tracking Hippo custom domain (https://trackinghippo.io/for-wordpress)
- Custom websites: point your Google tag's server_container_url at your Tracking Hippo domain (https://trackinghippo.io/for-custom-websites)
- E-commerce and privacy-sensitive industries needing EU data residency

## Setup overview

1. In Google Tag Manager, create a Server container and choose "Manually provision tagging server"; copy the Container Config.
2. Create a Tracking Hippo account (€10 free trial credit) and a new container; paste the Container Config.
3. Add a custom tracking subdomain (e.g. analytics.yourdomain.com) and create the CNAME record Tracking Hippo provides.
4. Point your web container's Google tag at the custom domain via the server_container_url parameter.
5. Add server-side tags (GA4, Meta Conversions API, TikTok Events API, ...) in your sGTM container.

## European hosting locations

- Amsterdam, the Netherlands: live managed sGTM cluster optimized for Benelux, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe (https://trackinghippo.io/clusters/amsterdam)
- Madrid, Spain: live managed sGTM cluster optimized for Spain, Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Southern Europe (https://trackinghippo.io/clusters/madrid)
- Stockholm, Sweden: announced as coming soon; no public cluster page is indexed yet.
- Warsaw, Poland: announced as coming soon; no public cluster page is indexed yet.
- Cluster overview: https://trackinghippo.io/clusters

## Hosting comparison

Tracking Hippo is a managed alternative to self-hosting a server-side GTM container on Google Cloud. The service uses flat per-container pricing, managed scaling and maintenance, and EU infrastructure. Self-hosting offers more infrastructure control but requires cloud, networking, monitoring, scaling, and maintenance expertise. Full comparison: https://trackinghippo.io/server-side-gtm-hosting-comparison

## Guides (full list)

### Safari 27 Makes Client-Side Tracking Harder: How Server-Side Tracking Helps
https://trackinghippo.io/blog/safari-27-server-side-tracking
Explains reported Safari 27 beta changes to link tracking and known tracking resources, the impact on mobile attribution, and how consent-aware server-side GTM improves first-party collection, validation, governance, and delivery without circumventing Safari privacy protections.

### What is Server-Side Google Tag Manager? Complete Beginner's Guide
https://trackinghippo.io/blog/what-is-server-side-gtm
Explains how sGTM works, how it differs from traditional web GTM (execution location, ad-blocker resistance, data control, privacy compliance), key benefits, and when to use it. Includes a client-side vs server-side comparison table.

### How to Create and Host a Server-Side GTM Container on Tracking Hippo
https://trackinghippo.io/blog/getting-started-sgtm-tracking-hippo
Step-by-step: create the GTM server container, copy the Container Config, create a Tracking Hippo container, add a custom domain with CNAME, and verify the setup.

### GA4 Server-Side Tracking Setup: Complete Guide
https://trackinghippo.io/blog/setup-ga4-server-side-tracking
Covers prerequisites, GTM server container creation, Tracking Hippo hosting, custom domain configuration, GA4 client and event tags, pointing the web Google tag at the server container, testing with Preview Mode and GA4 DebugView, and troubleshooting (events not arriving, CORS, slow responses).

### Meta Conversion API Tutorial with Tracking Hippo & sGTM
https://trackinghippo.io/blog/meta-conversion-api-tutorial
What Meta CAPI is, Pixel vs CAPI comparison, generating an access token, adding the Meta Conversions API tag in sGTM, event deduplication with event_id, and verification via Meta Test Events. Recommends running Pixel + CAPI together.

### Complete Guide to TikTok Server-Side Tracking with sGTM
https://trackinghippo.io/blog/tiktok-server-side-tagging-sgtm-guide
TikTok Pixel installation, TikTok Events API setup in the server container, connecting the web container via server_container_url, event deduplication with event_id, hashed user data (SHA256), and testing.

### Why Server-Side Tracking is the Future of Analytics
https://trackinghippo.io/blog/benefits-server-side-tracking
Client-side vs server-side comparison, data accuracy and performance benefits, GDPR/CCPA advantages, and implementation considerations.

## Frequently asked questions

Q: What is server-side tracking?
A: Server-side tracking processes analytics and marketing events on a server (a GTM server container) instead of in the visitor's browser. The browser sends events to your own first-party domain; the server container then forwards them to vendors like Google Analytics, Meta, and TikTok.

Q: Is Tracking Hippo GDPR compliant?
A: Tracking Hippo runs entirely on EU-based infrastructure, keeps data processing inside the EU, and gives you full control over what data is forwarded to which vendor — a strong foundation for GDPR-compliant tracking. A Data Processing Agreement is available.

Q: How much does Tracking Hippo cost?
A: €15 per container per month (VAT excluded), billed per started day, with unlimited requests under a Fair Use Policy. Billing is prepaid — you add funds to your balance (or enable auto-recharge) and daily charges are deducted from it. New accounts get €10 in free trial credit with no credit card required.

Q: Do I need Google Cloud to run server-side GTM?
A: No. Tracking Hippo replaces the Google Cloud setup: you paste your GTM Container Config and Tracking Hippo runs the tagging server on managed EU infrastructure.

Q: In which languages is the website available?
A: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Ukrainian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Finnish.

## Legal

- Privacy Policy: https://trackinghippo.io/privacy
- Terms of Service: https://trackinghippo.io/terms
- Fair Usage Policy: https://trackinghippo.io/fair-usage-policy
- Data Processing Agreement: https://trackinghippo.io/data-processing-agreement
- Cookie Policy: https://trackinghippo.io/cookies