Dream Team: EDDL and HTML5 Data Attributes

HTML5 Data Attributes and EDDL

Over a year ago (after the 2019 Adobe Summit) I offered to chat with anyone on the phone about data layers (that offer still stands, by the way). One such conversation was with my friend Yehoshua Coren, who you may know better as Analytics Ninja. He spent a good chunk of the call trying to … Read more

Adobe Launch Property Inheritance

Master Property Manager Logo

There are a lot of companies out there who operate many sites using a similar framework (or template). One good example is from my favorite airline Delta, who owns Virgin Atlantic. You can see both of these websites run on the same template. From an implementation standpoint, I want rules I create on Delta to … Read more

Top Event-Driven Data Layer Mistakes

After implementing dozens of Event-Driven Data Layers (EDDLs), I want to share some of my experiences. I want to be clear that while a data layer is critically important to a sustainable implementation, it doesn’t just fix everything. Like any development initiative, a data layer can even create frustration. I’m not going to talk about … Read more

The Semantic Implementation

Semantic Implementation

As implementation specialists, we need to think like product-builders. Our product is the implementation. This product has 2 end-users: stakeholders who use reports and teammates who help maintain the implementation. To get the most out of this article, we have to agree that reliable data is good and that you don’t want to spend your … Read more

Adobe Launch: Naming Conventions

I’ve thought a lot about Adobe Launch naming conventions over the past year or two. I’ve always been very principled: name your rules after the action and keep your Data Elements semantic. That was how it was intended with Satellite (pre-Adobe DTM)… and architecturally, things haven’t changed that much. You still have Rules and Data … Read more

Event-Driven Data Layer (EDDL) Demo

EDDL Demo

Since posting about the EDDL (Event-Driven Data Layer), I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how this works. If you’re a user of Google Tag Manager, you’re likely already familiar. For everyone else, this concept might be a little foreign. For instance, on the surface it doesn’t seem as readable as the W3C. I want … Read more

You Need a Data Layer

Data Layer

We’ve talked about how relying on CSS Selectors is unsustainable. We’ve reviewed the most efficient and sustainable way to implement a data layer. It’s worth taking a step back to review why one would implement a data layer in the first place. So many organizations don’t have one and it’s incredibly difficult to scale this. … Read more

The Event-Driven Data Layer

Event-Driven Data Layer

Recently, I wrote an appeal to Adobe suggesting they implement first-party support for an event-driven data layer in Adobe Launch. I specifically mentioned an “event-driven, asynchronous data layer”. Let’s just call it the Event-Driven Data Layer (EDDL) to keep it simple. Since the article’s release, I’ve had a number of good conversations on this topic. … Read more

Adobe Launch Data Layer: An Appeal

Adobe doesn’t have a recommended way to send/receive a data layer for Adobe Launch and I think they should. I’m not talking about your schema. Send whatever data you want in whatever naming schema makes sense for you or your business. I believe Adobe should take a stance on how the data is sent to Adobe … Read more

Data Layer or CSS Selectors?

JS and CSS Selectors

So… should you use a data layer? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yes. I’ll explain why. This is a simple concept, but I’ve worked with enough experienced analysts who still do not buy into this best practice. I’ve heard every excuse of why someone won’t implement a data layer and as I get older it’s … Read more