Making CAPI Work
As mentioned previously, CAPI requires setting up a server to recieve data. Plus, that server has to be connected to the ad platform. Naturally, this is somewhat more complicated that simply throwing up some code into a website. More specifically, the difficulties are:
- Not easy to setup a server and maintain the CAPI integrations
- Servers cost money. Depending on the number of events, it can run up to $1,000 per month
- Building, maintance, logging & proper deployment is difficult
Naturally, some products out there can make it easier to set things up than others. So 1) can potentially be managed more easily (albeit those solutions tend to be more expensive ) but its really 3) that makes things difficult.
Going into all of the specifics of 3) here would be a tad too much for now, but there are 2 key aspects which must be mentioned:
- The implementation must replicate the cookie creation that the pixel does. Not just send events. After all, we need identification
- The implementation should take care to ensure it won't get blocked by Safari & ad blockers
The first part depends on which tech you're using, so its best left for another day. But, that last part, which is the entire purpose of CAPI and 1st party pixels, requires some unpacking. So lets touch on that 😀
