Limitations with web apps

With web-based applications and "front-end" data collection (client-side tracking), where we ingest the event stream, there can be gaps in data, and we will create "customers" onto which we will track engagement.

In essence, if no activity or event data is being sent, the system can have "blank" data sets where there is nothing to report on over time.

For customers to be added, they will need to be active and sending in event data. In the future, we will allow you to upload your customers as part of this process, so we know if they are inactive and can report that.

Otherwise, Zengain will not recognize that they exist.

Adblockers and browsers are also making it harder and harder to track users on the client-side. If you want to ensure the data you’re collecting is accurate, you’ll want to do most of your server-side tracking.

Frontend event tracking (especially on the web) loses between 15% and 30% of events. If you’re only tracking on the client-side, you’re missing out on a lot of data, even using a reverse proxy.

Client-Side Tracking

This method generates events on the client device and sent to the Mixpanel API. There are two types of client-side tracking: web (JavaScript) and mobile.

Pros

• Easy to track client-side actions and state.

• Super fast and straightforward to set up.

• Easy to track anonymous (non-logged-in) user data.

• Works well in many use cases.

Cons

• Unreliable, due to ad-blockers. You may lose events for 30-50% of your users. You can resolve this by sending events through a proxy, but it requires more effort.

• Difficult to keep metrics consistent across web, iOS, and Android since each requires its own tracking.

• Difficult to fix integration mistakes quickly (particularly on mobile applications).

• Tracking will diverge over time due to the presence of old mobile clients.

Zengain also offers SDKs to collect your data and events