Study: Websites Managing Average of 14 Third-Party Tags

Websites are juggling third-party tags from an average of 14 vendors, according to one survey.

The Econsultancy survey, done in association with enterprise tag management company Tealium, identified the three top challenges to tag management: cost/budget, limited understanding, and finding the right vendor.

Tracking tags are being used for an assortment of activities, such as audience measurement (e.g., comScore, Quantcast), ad targeting, remarketing and email services (e.g., Eloqua, ExactTarget, Responsys) and social (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest). And as sites grow and become more complex, the more tags they add to their websites.

Tealium is among an emerging category of ad technology companies specializing in the management of third-party tags. BrightTag, another vendor, has been used by President Obama’s reelection campaign to manage tags from ad partners, analytics firms, and social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

A total of 304 sites participated in the survey, which took place in April. Participants included Econsultancy members, partners, and others from social channels. Of those responding, 32 percent manage corporate websites, 27 percent generate direct e-commerce revenues, 23 percent generate leads, and 12 percent are in publishing/media.