Client: a resort in Europe (hospitality). The client’s name is not published.
The starting point
The resort had two websites: the main website for presenting the offer and a separate booking engine on its own domain. Most guests looked at the offer on the main site and booked on the booking engine, often a few days later and sometimes through a link from an email.
The tracking setup did not follow that journey:
- Cross-domain tracking did not work. A guest who moved from the main site to the booking engine was counted as two users, and many bookings were attributed to “Direct”.
- All tracking ran in the browser. Ad blockers and Safari’s cookie limits meant that Google Ads and Meta recorded fewer bookings than actually happened.
- The cookie banner (Cookiebot) was not properly connected with the tags, so tags did not consistently follow the visitor’s choice.
What we did
Server-side GTM on both domains
We set up a server-side Google Tag Manager container with a tagging endpoint on a subdomain of each domain. Both websites send data to their own first-party endpoint, and the server forwards it to the platforms.
Cross-domain tracking in GA4
We configured cross-domain measurement in GA4, so the same visitor is recognised on the main site and on the booking engine. The whole journey, from the first visit to the booking, is now in one session history.
Consent Mode v2 and Cookiebot
We connected Cookiebot with Google Consent Mode v2 on both domains and with the server container. Every tag, Google and non-Google, now follows the visitor’s choice, and data from visitors who declined is not forwarded.
Meta Conversions API and enhanced conversions
Bookings are sent to Meta through Conversions API (with deduplication against the pixel) and to Google Ads with enhanced conversions, both from the server container.
Results
- One user journey across both domains, from the first visit to the booking.
- Bookings are attributed to the real source instead of “Direct”.
- Tags follow the visitor’s consent on both domains.
- Recorded conversions in GA4 and the ad platforms rose by an estimated 25 to 40 percent, measured against bookings in the booking system.
- A server-side base that can be extended with new platforms or data without changes on the websites.
When this approach makes sense
The same setup fits any business where the purchase happens on a different domain from the main website: hotels and resorts with an external booking engine, tour operators, and companies with a separate shop or payment page.
Have a similar setup? Tell us about it, and we will look at how your journey is tracked today.