Glossary
The terms, in plain words.
- Attribution
Deciding which channels and campaigns get the credit for a lead or an order. Each ad platform does it in its own favour; a warehouse lets you see all channels side by side.
Lesson: How you connect Shopify →- BigQuery
Google Cloud’s database for large amounts of data. The marketing data warehouse in this course runs on it, in the client’s own cloud project.
Lesson: What a marketing data warehouse is →- CAPI (Conversions API)
Meta’s way of receiving conversions from a server instead of the browser. Google Ads, LinkedIn and TikTok have their own versions. It keeps conversions arriving when the browser blocks or forgets.
Lesson: Send conversions back to the ad platforms →- Client-side tracking
Tracking that runs as a script in the visitor’s browser. Detailed, but exposed to ad blockers, browser limits and closed tabs.
Lesson: Client-side, server-side, server-to-server →- Collector
The service that receives tracking events, applies consent and passes them on to the warehouse and the platforms. Where it answers, on the website’s own hosting or a separate address, decides how long Safari keeps its cookie.
Lesson: Why server-side tracking is better for your clients →- Consent banner (CMP)
The banner that asks visitors what may be stored and used. CMP stands for consent management platform, the tool behind the banner.
Lesson: What consent means for marketing data →- Consent Mode v2
Google’s standard for telling its own tags, such as GA4 and Google Ads, what the visitor allowed. Required in the European Economic Area for audience and measurement features.
Lesson: Google Consent Mode v2, in plain words →- Enhanced conversions
Google Ads matching a conversion to the ad click with hashed first-party data, such as an email address, so more conversions are counted correctly.
Lesson: Send conversions back to the ad platforms →- First-party cookie
A cookie from the website the visitor is on. For Safari, a cookie only lasts long if it is set by a server in the website’s own IP range, not by a script.
Lesson: What Safari does to your clients’ data →- GA4
Google Analytics 4, Google’s analytics tool. Useful for behaviour on the site, but its numbers are sampled, modelled and limited by consent, so it is one source among several, not the source of truth.
Lesson: Reports from one source of truth →- GDPR
The EU’s data protection law. It governs what may be done with personal data. In the UK, the UK GDPR and PECR play the same role.
Lesson: What consent means for marketing data →- gclid, fbclid (click IDs)
Codes Google Ads (gclid) and Meta (fbclid) add to the link when someone clicks an ad. Sent back with the conversion, they tell the platform exactly which click led to it. Safari removes them in some cases.
Lesson: What Safari does to your clients’ data →- GTM (Google Tag Manager)
Google’s tool for managing tracking tags on a website without changing its code. There is a browser version and a server version.
Lesson: Client-side, server-side, server-to-server →- ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention)
Safari’s set of rules against tracking: third-party cookies blocked, script cookies and cookies from another IP range capped at 7 days, click IDs removed in some cases.
Lesson: What Safari does to your clients’ data →- MCP (Model Context Protocol)
An open standard for connecting AI assistants such as Claude or ChatGPT to data and tools. Reading data and taking actions are separate permissions.
Lesson: What MCP is, in plain words →- Offline conversions
Conversions that happen outside the website, such as a deal closed in the CRM, sent back to the ad platform later so it can learn from real outcomes.
Lesson: Send conversions back to the ad platforms →- Pixel
A small piece of tracking code from an ad platform or shop system, such as the Meta pixel or Shopify’s pixel, that reports what happens in the browser.
Lesson: How you connect Shopify →- ROAS
Return on ad spend: revenue divided by ad spend. Only as honest as the revenue it is measured against; the shop’s own orders beat a platform’s estimate.
Lesson: How you connect Shopify →- Server-side tracking
The browser sends events to a server first, which applies consent and passes them on. More complete, more controlled, and longer-lasting in Safari when the server is in the website’s own IP range.
Lesson: Why server-side tracking is better for your clients →- Server-to-server
Data that goes from one system to another with no browser involved, such as orders from the shop or deals from the CRM. The most reliable route for the conversions that matter.
Lesson: Client-side, server-side, server-to-server →- TDDDG § 25
The German rule (until May 2024: TTDSG) that storing or reading anything on the visitor’s device needs consent, unless strictly necessary. It comes before the GDPR.
Lesson: What consent means for marketing data →- UTM parameters
Labels added to a link, such as utm_source and utm_campaign, that tell analytics where a visit came from. They are set by you, unlike click IDs.
Lesson: Why you should connect your tools →- Warehouse (marketing data warehouse)
One database, owned by the client, where all marketing data lives side by side: spend, visits, leads, orders and CRM.
Lesson: What a marketing data warehouse is →- Webhook
A message one system sends another the moment something happens, such as Shopify telling the warehouse about a new order.
Lesson: How you connect Shopify →