If you’re anything like us, Meta ad representatives call you all hours of the day to talk to you. And it’s usually about their Conversion API, or CAPI. They always ask you to set it up but are light on the details on what it actually is and how to actually set it up. Meta CAPI Gateway is a new evolution that makes installation a lot easier. It’s the Ryan Reynolds of tracking pixels.
What is Meta CAPI?
To put it simply, Meta’s CAPI is a server-side Facebook pixel. It’s best explained with a metaphor: a phone call. The phone call is a website, your phone is a browser, and your mobile network is the server. You can screen a call, but T-Mobile will always know who called and from where. Meta’s CAPI operates via the mobile network.
To stop Meta’s Conversion API from tracking, you would have to block “the phone call” all together — in other words, you couldn’t visit the website. The tracking is riding the same wave as everything else that makes the website load (text, images, videos, etc.). Scary thought, I know, but that’s why Meta is so gung-ho. Tracking that can’t be blocked, even by Chrome going cookie-less, is extremely valuable to the company.
What is Meta Conversion API Gateway?
I know, I know. You just figured out what CAPI is. Well, CAPI Gateway is basically the same thing, but via “The Cloud”. That ambiguous phrase really clear things up, right? Going back to our metaphor, the CAPI Gateway is kind of like a “Mint Mobile”. It piggybacks off T-Mobile’s network to redirect the call. No one should notice a difference, but now Ryan Reynolds is in the mix and knows what’s happening.
How is Meta CAPI Gateway Different? Why’s it important?
With cookies on their way out, the old way of tracking things, via the pixel, might not be an option. However, if you ever tried to installed the vanilla CAPI, you might have noticed something — it was very confusing to set up and very expensive. You could rack up hundreds of dollars in costs a day with Amazon Web Services or other hosts, depending on the amount of traffic to your site. Oof.
Meanwhile, the Conversion API Gateway via Stape takes just a few clicks and starts at $10/month after a 7-day free trial. Still having precision targeting, optimization, AND audiences after cookies are banned? Count me in.
What next?
Try out Stape or maybe another provider! The cookie-less future is already here after the web browser Chrome blocked 3rd-party cookies for 1% of its users starting in Q1 2024. Feel to reach out to us if you want it implemented!
