What each UTM parameter records
A UTM tag is a set of extra parameters at the end of a link. When someone clicks it, Google Analytics reads them and files the visit under the source, medium and campaign you chose, instead of guessing from the referring site.
| Parameter | What it records | Example |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | Where the link was placed. Google: always use. | facebook, newsletter |
| utm_medium | The type of traffic. Google: always use. | email, social, cpc |
| utm_campaign | The promotion, product or offer. Google: always use. | spring_sale |
| utm_id | An ID for a specific campaign or promotion. | q2-2027 |
| utm_term | The paid keyword. | crm-software |
| utm_content | Which of several links or creatives was clicked. | toplink |
Google also lists utm_source_platform, utm_creative_format and utm_marketing_tactic. Google Analytics does not report the last two yet, so the builder leaves them out.
Which medium lands in which GA4 channel
GA4 sorts every visit into a default channel by its source and medium. If the medium matches none of the rules, the visit is counted as "Unassigned", which is the most common reason a tagged campaign seems to vanish from the channel report. These medium values are safe:
| Medium | GA4 channel |
|---|---|
| Email (any source or medium containing "email" counts) | |
| social | Organic Social (also social-media, social-network, sm) |
| cpc, ppc, paid_social | Paid Search, Paid Social, Paid Video or Paid Shopping when the source is a search, social, video or shopping site; Paid Other for any other source |
| display, banner, cpm | Display |
| referral, link, app | Referral |
| affiliate | Affiliates |
| sms | SMS |
| audio | Audio |
| organic | Organic Search |
A medium counts as paid when it is ppc or retargeting, starts with "paid" or contains "cp". Google checks the source against its own long list of search, social, video and shopping sites; the builder knows the common ones, such as google, bing, facebook, instagram, linkedin, tiktok, youtube and amazon.
Naming rules that keep reports clean
- Lowercase everything. Values are case sensitive, so "Facebook" and "facebook" become two rows.
- Pick one separator. spring-sale, spring_sale and "spring sale" are three different campaigns in a report.
- Keep a list. A shared sheet with the sources and mediums your team uses stops "fb", "facebook" and "facebook.com" from piling up.
- Don't tag links between your own pages. A tagged internal link replaces the ad or email that really brought the visitor, so the sale gets credited to your own website.
- Leave Google Ads to auto-tagging. Google says GA4 gives auto-tagging priority over manual UTM tags, so tags on Google Ads links add little once the accounts are linked.