Implement the Experience Cloud Identity Service for Analytics, Audience Manager, and Target
These instructions are for Analytics, Audience Manager, and Target customers who want to use the Experience Cloud Identity Service and do not use Data Collection tags. However, we strongly recommend that you use tags to implement the ID service. Tags streamlines the implementation workflow and automatically ensures the correct code placement and sequencing.
- Customers using s_code cannot complete this procedure. Upgrade to mbox code v61 to complete this procedure.
- Configure and test this code in a development environment before you implement it in production.
Step 1: Plan for server-side forwarding
In addition to the steps described here, customers who use Analytics and Audience Manager should migrate to server-side forwarding. Server-side forwarding lets you remove DIL (Audience Manager’s data collection code) and replace it with the Audience Management Module. See the server-side forwarding documentation for more information.
Migrating to server-side forwarding requires planning and coordination. This process involves external changes to your site code and internal steps that Adobe must take to provision your account. In fact, many of these migration procedures need to happen in parallel and get released together. Your implementation path should follow this sequence of events:
-
Work with your Analytics and Audience Manager contacts to plan your ID service and server-side forwarding migration. Make selecting a tracking server an important part of this plan.
-
Complete the form on the integrations and provisioning site to get started.
-
Implement the ID service and the Audience Management Module simultaneously. To work properly, the Audience Management Module (server-side forwarding) and the ID service must be released for the same set of pages and at the same time.
Step 2: Download the ID Service code
The ID Service requires the VisitorAPI.js
code library. To download this code library:
-
Go to Admin > Code Manager.
-
In Code Manager, click either JavaScrpt (New) or JavaScript (Legacy). This downloads compressed code libraries.
-
Decompress the code file and open the
VisitorAPI.js
file.
Step 3: Add the Visitor.getInstance function to the ID Service code
- Previous versions of the ID service API placed this function in a different location and required a different syntax. If you are migrating from a version prior to version 1.4, note the new placement and syntax documented here.
- Code in ALL CAPS is a placeholder for actual values. Replace this text with your Organization ID, tracking server URL, or other named value.
Part 1: Copy the Visitor.getInstance function below
var visitor = Visitor.getInstance("INSERT-MARKETING-CLOUD-ORGANIZATION ID-HERE", {
trackingServer: "INSERT-TRACKING-SERVER-HERE", // same as s.trackingServer
trackingServerSecure: "INSERT-SECURE-TRACKING-SERVER-HERE", // same as s.trackingServerSecure
// To enable CNAME support, add the following configuration variables
// If you are not using CNAME, DO NOT include these variables
marketingCloudServer: "INSERT-TRACKING-SERVER-HERE",
marketingCloudServerSecure: "INSERT-SECURE-TRACKING-SERVER-HERE" // same as s.trackingServerSecure
});
Part 2: Add function code to the Visitor API.js file
Place the Visitor.getInstance
function at the end of the file after the code block. Your edited file should look like this:
/*
========== DO NOT ALTER ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ==========
Version and copyright section
*/
// Visitor API code library section
// Put Visitor.getInstance at the end of the file, after the code library
var visitor = Visitor.getInstance("INSERT-MARKETING-CLOUD-ORGANIZATION ID-HERE", {
trackingServer: "INSERT-TRACKING-SERVER-HERE", // same as s.trackingServer
trackingServerSecure: "INSERT-SECURE-TRACKING-SERVER-HERE", // same as s.trackingServerSecure
// To enable CNAME support, add the following configuration variables
// If you are not using CNAME, DO NOT include these variables
marketingCloudServer: "INSERT-TRACKING-SERVER-HERE",
marketingCloudServerSecure: "INSERT-SECURE-TRACKING-SERVER-HERE" // same as s.trackingServerSecure
});
Step 4: Add your Experience Cloud Organization ID to Visitor.getInstance
In the Visitor.getInstance
function, replace INSERT-MARKETING-CLOUD-ORGANIZATION ID-HERE
with your Experience Cloud organization ID. If you do not know your organization ID, you can find it on the Experience Cloud administration page. Your edited function could look similar to the example below.
var visitor = Visitor.getInstance("1234567ABC@AdobeOrg", { ...
Step 5: Add your tracking servers to Visitor.getInstance
Analytics uses tracking servers for data collection.
Part 1: Find your tracking server URLs
Check your s_code.js
or AppMeasurement.js
files to find the tracking server URLs. You’ll want the URLs specified by these variables:
s.trackingServer
s.trackingServerSecure
Part 2: Set tracking server variables
To determine which tracking server variables to use:
- Answer the questions in the decision matrix below. Use the variables that correspond to your answers.
- Replace the tracking server placeholders with your tracking server URLs.
- Remove unused tracking server and Experience Cloud server variables from the code.
- Experience Cloud server URL = tracking server URL
- Experience Cloud server secure URL = tracking server secure URL
If you’re not sure how to find your tracking server see the FAQ and Correctly Populate the trackingServer and trackingServerSecure variables.
Step 6: Update your AppMeasurement.js file
This step requires AppMeasurement. You cannot continue if you’re still using s_code.
Add the Visitor.getInstance
function shown below to your AppMeasurement.js
file. Place it in the section that contains configurations such as linkInternalFilters
, charSet
, trackDownloads
, etc. :
s.visitor = Visitor.getInstance("INSERT-MARKETING-CLOUD-ORGANIZATION ID-HERE");
(Optional, but recommended) Create a custom prop
Set a custom prop in AppMeasurement.js
to measure coverage. Add this custom prop to the doPlugins
function of your AppMeasurement.js
file:
// prop1 is used as an example only. Choose any available prop.
s.prop1 = (typeof(Visitor) != "undefined" ? "VisitorAPI Present" : "VisitorAPI Missing");
Step 7: Add Visitor API code to the page
Place the VisitorAPI.js
file within the <head>
tags on each page. When you the VisitorAPI.js
file to your page:
- Put it at the beginning of the
<head>
section to it appears before other solution tags. - It must execute before AppMeasurement and the code for other Experience Cloud solutions.
Step 8: (Optional) Configure a grace period
If any of these use cases apply to your situation, ask Customer Care to set up a temporary grace period. Grace periods can run for up to 180-days. You can renew a grace period if required.
Partial Implementation
You need a grace period if you have some pages that use the ID service and some pages that do not, and they all report into the same Analytics report suite. This is common if you have a global report suite that reports across domains.
Discontinue the grace period after the ID service is deployed on all your web pages that report into the same report suite.
s_vi Cookie Requirements
You need a grace period if you require new visitors to have an s_vi cookie after migrating to the ID service. This is common if your implementation reads the s_vi cookie and stores it in a variable.
Discontinue the grace period after your implementation can capture the MID instead of reading the s_vi cookie.
See also, Cookies and the Experience Cloud Identity Service.
Clickstream Data Integration
You need a grace period if you send data to an internal system from a Clickstream data feed and that processes uses the visid_high
and visid_low
columns.
Discontinue the grace period after your data ingestion process can use the post_visid_high
and post_visid_low
columns.
See also, Clickstream Data Column Reference.
Step 9: Test and verify
The Experience Cloud solutions in this implementation return IDs in the form of key-value pairs. Each solution uses different keys (e.g., the Analytics SDID vs the Target mboxMCSDID) to hold the same ID. To test your implementation, load your pages in a development environment. Use your browser console or software that monitors HTTP requests and responses to check the IDs listed below. The ID service has been implemented correctly when the key-value pairs listed below return the same ID values.
All solutions
Check for the:
- AMCV cookie in the domain where you page is hosted.
- Experience Cloud ID (MID) with the Adobe debugger or your preferred debugging tool.
For additional checks that help you determine if the ID service is working properly, see Test and Verify the Experience Cloud Identity Service.
Analytics
Check for the SDID identifier in the JavaScript request. The Analytics SDID should match the Target mboxMCSDID.
If your tests return an AID, that indicates either of the following:
- You’re a returning visitor in the process of migrating legacy Analytics IDs.
- You have a grace period enabled.
When you see an AID, check its value against the Target mboxMCAVID. These values are identical when the ID service has been implemented correctly.
Audience Manager
To test server-side forwarding, see How to verify your server-side forwarding implementation.
Target
Check for the:
- mboxMCGVID
- mboxMCSDID (The mboxMCSDID should match the Analytics SDID.)
If your tests return an mboxMCAVID, that indicates either of the following:
- You’re a returning visitor in the process of migrating legacy Analytics IDs.
- You have a grace period enabled.
When you see an mboxMCAVID, check its value against the Analytics AID. These values are identical when the ID service has been implemented correctly.
Deployment
Step 10: Deploy
Deploy your code after it passes testing.
If you enabled a grace period:
- Ensure the Analytics ID (AID) and MID are in the image request.
- Remember to disable the grace period once you meet the criteria for discontinuation.