By Kevin Haag from Bounteous. Held at MeasureCamp Berlin 2019.

1. ABOUT THE EVENT-DRIVEN DATA
LAYER & ADOBE ANALYTICS
Measurecamp Berlin
September 28, 2019

2. 2
Kevin Haag
@kevalytics
● Adobe Analytics Tech Lead at Bounteous
● Adobe Certified Expert (ACE)
● Adobe & Google Consulting

3. Application Layer
>>> Data Layer <<<
Experience Layer

4. bnteo.us/measureCampBer

5. 5Proprietary & Confidential
Google
[...] a JavaScript object that is used to pass information from
your website to your Tag Manager container.

6. 6Proprietary & Confidential
Tealium
[...] the behind-the-scenes structure that web sites and
mobile apps tap into for timely and consistent visitor data.

7. 7Proprietary & Confidential
W3C
[...] a JavaScript Object which can be used for communicating
[...] data to digital analytics and reporting servers.

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[...] a JavaScript object that is
used to pass information
from your website to your
Tag Manager container.
They are all data layers.
[...] the behind-the-scenes
structure that web sites and
mobile apps tap into for
timely and consistent visitor
data.
[...] a JavaScript Object which
can be used for
communicating [...] data to
digital analytics and
reporting servers.
dataLayer utag_data digitalData

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dataLayer = [{
“pageName” : “Home Page”
}];
They are all able to store contextual information.
utag_data = {
“pageName” : “Home Page”
};
digitalData = {
“pageName” : “Home Page”
};
dataLayer utag_data digitalData

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You can look at all of them in your browser’s console.

11. EDDL vs. CEDDL

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● EDDL
● Event-Driven-Data Layer
● Array-based
● Populated by the TMS
● Retrieve DLVs and e.g. store them in
Custom Dimensions
● Use events as triggers
● Good for asynchronous TMSs
● Good for SPAs
● CEDDL
● Customer Experience Digital Data Layer
● Object-based
● Populated by the dev team
● Retrieve DLVs and e.g. store them in
Custom Conversion Variables (eVars)
● No events
● Not good for asynchronous TMSs
● Good for static data
EDDL vs. CEDDL

13. Use Case: Form Submit

14. 14Proprietary & Confidential
Whenever
a visitor successfully submits a form
Let
the data layer know
Store
relevant (non-pii) context data as data
layer variables
Use Case: Form Submit
Last NameFirst Name
Job TitleEmail
Submit

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dataLayer.push({
“event”: “formSubmit”,
“jobTitle”: “Analyst”
});
Setup in GTM Action
Context

16. Adobe’s TMSs (DTM & Launch) don’t have a
built-in Data Layer Model.

17. Up until recently, there was no standardized
way of leveraging data layer events for AA.

18. 18Proprietary & Confidential

19. How did Adobe folks track non-standard
events?

20. 20Proprietary & Confidential
digitalData {
formData:{
jobTitle: “Analyst”
}
};
Context
1 Populate the data layer 2 Send a trigger to DTM/Launch
1. Direct Call Rule (DCR)
_satellite.track(“formSubmit”);
OR
2. Custom JS Event
var event = new
CustomEvent(“formSubmit”);
Action
So … how did Adobe folks track non-standard events?
Then

21. But now, there is a better way.

22. 22Proprietary & Confidential
● Public Launch Extension
● Dispatches custom DL events
● Provides computed state for DLVs
Data Layer Manager Extension

23. 23Proprietary & Confidential
var measureCamp = window.measureCamp = || [ ];
measureCamp.push({
‘event’: ‘formSubmit’,
‘jobTitle’: ‘Analyst’
})
Data Layer Manager Extension - Prerequisites
● Build an array-based data layer
● Name it whatever you want
● Push events to the data layer

24. 24Proprietary & Confidential
var measureCamp = window.measureCamp = || [ ];
Best Practices for Instantiating a Data Layer
Set the value of the variable
measureCamp...
… to whatever is already
globally named measureCamp.
If measureCamp doesn’t exist,
set it to an empty array.

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PreventsOverwriting
var measureCamp = window.measureCamp = || [ ];
Prevents
Destruction

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● Specify your data layer’s root object
Data Layer Manager Extension - Extension Configuration
● Specify your data layer events

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● Easily access computed state of the
data layer variables (DLVs)
Data Layer Manager Extension - Data Elements I

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● Use the Data Elements to populate custom analytics variables (eVars & sProps) in rules
Data Layer Manager Extension - Data Elements II

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● Use the Data Layer Events as events to trigger your rules
Data Layer Manager Extension - Events

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In Summary
1. The EDDL is great for
- asynchronous deployments
- modern, event-heavy analytics
implementations
- site performance
- SPAs
2. GA folks always liked the EDDL
3. AA folks also like the EDDL

31. 31Proprietary & Confidential
Data Layer Articles
● https://bnteo.us/data-layer-for-developers
● https://bnteo.us/data-layer-for-non-developers
● https://developers.google.com/tag-manager/devguide
● https://www.simoahava.com/analytics/data-layer/
● https://tealium.com/resource/fundamentals/what-is-a
-data-layer/
● https://www.w3.org/2013/12/ceddl-201312.pdf
EDDL & Data Layer Manager Extension
● https://jimalytics.com/tag-management/the-event-dri
ven-data-layer/
● https://techdocs.searchdiscovery.com/adobe-solution
s/adobe-launch/launch-extensions/data-layer-manag
er
Resources

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General (Adobe-) Analytics Knowledge
● https://www.measure.chat/
● https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2543670
● https://docs.adobe.com/content/help/en/analytics/lan
ding/home.html
● https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8I6bqCk7gO6
YdoMz6W5fvw
General (Google-) Analytics Podcasts
● https://www.analyticshour.io/
● https://die-sendung-mit-der-metrik.de/
● https://www.termfrequenz.de/podcast/beyon
d-pageviews-podcast/
● https://analyticsfreak.com/podcast
Resources

33. We are hiring like crazy!

34. 34Proprietary & Confidential
bnteo.us/analytics-career
● Adobe Analytics Consultant
● Adobe Analytics Engineer
● Google Analytics Consultant
Current Analytics Openings (All Locations)

35. At Measurecamp, you can meet incredibly
smart people!

36. 36Proprietary & Confidential
Maik
So...make sure to meet with them!
Markus B. Markus V. Helen
GA - GADS
Webinars
Podcast: Die
Sendung mit der
Metrik
Audio Book:
Dein Weg zum
Webanalysten
Podcast: Beyond
Pageviews
ITP & ETP
Book: Google
Analytics - Das
umfassende
Handbuch
GMP Con

37. Thank You!
Adobe Analytics Technical Lead
Kevin Haag
Email: kevin.haag@bounteous.com
@kevalytics