Tag Proliferation and Its Implications for Web Performance

November 17, 2011 - Krux Digital

With Krux's latest research report, we set out to explore tagging dynamics across the web.  This report shares our perspective on the role tags play across today’s consumer web and detailed analysis of tag proliferation and its implications for web performance and data security.

If the web is a human body, tags – the bits of code governing the execution of web pages – are its nerve endings. They are the means by which websites sense, respond, execute, measure, and remember. They sense and respond to user requests. They issue commands to load most page content and deliver nearly every advertising message. They serve as the sensors that track user behavior, collect data about user actions, and monitor traffic. Further, they serve as the gateways through which information is shared: across web pages; between different websites; and among the countless media companies, marketers, and service providers involved in creating the consumer web experience.

Krux has undertaken a study of the proliferation of tags and their impact on website performance and data control for web operators. Krux’s research surfaced five key findings:

• Consumer web operators are suffering from ‘tag bloat,’ with an average of 25 tags per page across the sample, peaking at a staggering 121 tags.
• Tag proliferation erodes web performance, Krux observed significantly delayed page load times as a result of web operators' expanding use of tags to enrich their websites.
• Third-party tags pose serious risks to website operator data security, with an average of nearly 30 data collection events per page view (with an ‘event’ defined as anytime a cookie is set, referenced, or modified on a consumer’s browser).
• Tag count and page latency are only loosely correlated, indicating a marked lack of standardization when it comes to the management, prioritization, and execution of tags in support of page performance optimization.  Website operators are crying out for new, intelligent approaches to tag management.
• The industry as a whole requires new metrics for measuring web performance and its connection to tags.

We welcome you to download the report and explore its findings.  We hope that it proves insightful and catalyzes action on one of the web's most pressing issues.