LiveRamp's Client-Side Tags
LiveRamp Client-Side Tags are tags that can be used to log user activities (such as page views or ad views, adding items to a cart, or completing a transaction) and then match the identifiers associated with those activities to RampIDs.
LiveRamp Client-Side Tags are tags that can be used to log user activities (such as page views or ad views, adding items to a cart, or completing a transaction) and then match the identifiers associated with those activities to RampIDs.
The tags can be placed in the following environments, depending on the tag type and the implementation method:
The standard Client-Side Tag (CST) can be placed in advertisements, and web or mobile web environments.
The standard implementation of the Enhanced Client-Side Tag (eCST) can also be placed in in-app mobile, CTV, and OTT environments.
The eCST module for ATS.js implementation of the Enhanced Client-Side Tag can be placed on web and mobile web owned and operated properties.
LiveRamp creates a log file from these activities daily. The log file is either used to create fields and segments in your Connect account (for Activation use cases) or is delivered to you or your measurement partner (for Measurement use cases).
See the sections below for information on uses for the tag, tag versions, and a more-detailed overview of how the tag collects data.
Client-Side Tag Uses
The Client-Side Tags can be used in either of two ways:
You can use the tag for measurement: The segments can be delivered back to you or your measurement partner in batch files that include the corresponding RampID(s) for the online identifier captured (our File-Based Recognition workflow). You can choose to receive one RampID for each identifier or to receive multiple RampIDs for each identifier (if there are more than one).
For example, you might be a brand who wants to create RampID-based impression logs for users who see your advertisements online. You can implement the CST in your ad creatives to collect LiveRamp cookies on impression. LiveRamp matches those cookies to RampIDs and delivers the files back to you. You can use these logs to better understand how that campaign performed when tying these RampID impression logs to transaction data tied to RampID.
You can use the tag for activation: The segments can be automatically imported into your LiveRamp Connect account, where you can distribute them to your desired destinations (our Onboarding workflow).
For example, you might be a brand who wants to retarget users who left their shopping cart abandoned on site. You can implement the CST on every page of your website and configure it to pass along custom data that denotes if the user has made a checkout or not after placing items in their cart. If they do not eventually make a checkout, you’ll be able to retarget this segment of users through Connect at one of your destination platform partners.
As another example, you might be a brand who wants to suppress users who made a purchase on your site. You can implement the CST to pass through a signal in the custom data that confirms the user has made a purchase. You can easily make a suppression segment of users who you do not want to include in your next campaign by distributing a suppression segment of users in your Connect account.
Client-Side Tag Versions
LiveRamp has two versions of the Client-Side Tag:
The standard Client-Side Tag (CST) automatically captures LiveRamp cookies. The CST can be placed in any cookieable environment, such as your website, marketing emails, or in online advertisements. For more information on implementing the CST, see "Implement the Standard Client-Side Tag".
The Enhanced Client-Side Tag (eCST) allows you to send additional identifiers to LiveRamp (as well as LiveRamp cookies), such as mobile device IDs, OTT IDs, and CTV IDs. The eCST can also track authentications on websites, mobile applications, or mobile web browsers by sending identity envelopes containing RampIDs generated using LiveRamp's Authenticated Traffic Solution (ATS). In addition to the capabilities of the standard CST, the eCST can also be placed in mobile web applications, in-app mobile, or CTV environments to send the relevant identifier for that environment.
For more information on implementing the eCST, see "Implement the Enhanced Client-Side Tag". If you want to use the eCST to collect only LiveRamp cookies and identity envelopes containing RampIDs, see “Enhanced Client-Side Tag (eCST) for ATS for Web”.
Note
The eCST is currently in open beta. The use of the eCST requires an update to your contract. Contact your LiveRamp representative for more information.
Client-Side Tag Workflow Overview
The overview below lists the steps that are performed in the Client-Side Tag workflow:
Note
If you want to use the eCST to collect only LiveRamp cookies and identity envelopes containing RampIDs, you can implement the eCST via an ATS integration module. For more information on this implementation method, see “Enhanced Client-Side Tag (eCST) for ATS for Web
You implement a Client-Side Tag using your LiveRamp provided tag ID, either on your owned and operated web properties or in ad creatives.
You set the proper firing conditions for your intended use case. This could happen either on impression of the web page or creative, or after a user takes a specific action on the site.
Note
These firing conditions are set by you and not by LiveRamp.
If desired, you configure macros or dynamic data layer elements to populate various key/value pairs of “custom data” (otherwise known as “pdata”) within your Client-Side Tag requests. For more information on passing custom data, see “Capturing Custom Data (pdata) for Client-Side Tags”.
Note
The tag automatically collects the LiveRamp cookie (if one is present on the browser), the tag ID, the request timestamp, and the Ref-URL. You do not need to use custom data or configure the tag to collect these elements.
When using an Enhanced Client-Side Tag in environments outside of the web (i.e. in-app or CTV environments), you use the appropriate macro to populate the tag with the identity envelope (generated by ATS) or appropriate device ID, and send those identifiers to LiveRamp.
When a user views the ad creative or takes the intended action on your site, the tag fires and sends data to LiveRamp.
Once a day (at 0:00 UTC time), LiveRamp generates a log files containing all requests and their custom data (“pdata”) logged from the tag in the previous day, adds the RampIDs that match to the included identifiers, and then ingests that log file into your relevant audiences in Connect:
For Activation use cases, LiveRamp creates fields and segments from your data that you can then distribute to your desired destinations.
For Measurement use cases, LiveRamp delivers the log file to the location(s) you previously specified.
Client-Side Tag Guidelines and Resources
For additional guidelines and resources, see the following articles:
For information on the data that is captured by all Client-Side Tags by default, see "Data Automatically Captured".
For information on implementing the tag to capture custom data (pdata) and the requirements for pdata, see "Capturing Custom Data (pdata)".
Ensure any configured information within pdata falls within our privacy guidelines.
For information on the types of support that LiveRamp can and cannot provide, see "LiveRamp Support Provided".
For guidelines on how to avoid common implementation issues, see "Best Practices for All Client-Side Tags".
For answers to frequently asked questions, see "FAQs".