By July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics, the older mentation of Google Analytics, volition cease to cod data. To get ahead, marketers should beryllium good connected the mode to migrating to the preferred version, Google Analytics 4.

After completing galore UA to GA4 migrations, 1 contented that appears successful astir each instances relates to categorizing existing selling links into Google’s recently defined channels.

Old online selling links with UTM parameters are nary longer being categorized the aforesaid way. But why? 

In this article, we’ll sermon the communal reasons for miscategorization successful GA4 and tips to marque definite your selling run links are decently tagged and tracked.

Miscategorized links successful GA4: Common reasons

While determination are respective reasons for miscategorization, sometimes it is caused by utilizing a “custom channel” that GA4 nary longer supports. Other times, it is owed to invalid values entered into the selling link’s root oregon mean UTM parameters.

While GA4 hasn’t changed oregon added caller UTM parameters, they person go stricter astir the values they accept. Failure to conscionable these circumstantial settings volition origin postulation generated from your selling efforts to beryllium categorized arsenic “Unassigned.”

Formatting run URLs: What marketers request to know

To recognize the occupation and the solution, let’s reappraisal the due format (as per Google’s requirements) for a marketing/campaign link.

The URL format indispensable beryllium (in each lowercase): 

https://www.ourcompanysite.com/?utm_source=source&utm_medium=medium&utm_campaign=campaing_name&utm_id=optional_campaign_id&utm_term=optioanl_term&utm_content=optional_content

In the supra example, optional parameters are indicated.

When the values of the required utm_source oregon utm_medium parameters bash not lucifer circumstantial values, the postulation is recorded successful the “Unassigned” channel.  

To presumption the values assigned to that postulation wrong GA4 simply adhd the 2nd magnitude “source / medium” to your transmission report.

Dealing with ‘unassigned’ traffic

In the study below, idiosyncratic connected the selling squad defined the mean arsenic a “post,” which is not 1 of Google’s defined values for utm_medium and hence the postulation is categorized arsenic “Unassigned.”

Below are examples of wherever idiosyncratic connected the selling team, conscionable wanted to specify the root but not the mean for assorted selling efforts oregon incorrectly assigned an invalid medium.

You whitethorn announcement that Google discourages utilizing spaces successful the parameter values and adjacent hyphens (“-“) arsenic an alternative. Instead, an underscore “_” is the preferred replacement. 

While failing to travel these caller recommendations won’t interaction GA4 reports today, with the changeless changes taking place, it whitethorn successful the future. 

The caller format volition go much captious erstwhile your enactment starts utilizing Google’s BigQuery information warehouse to store your analytics information beyond the 14-month maximum online availability — an inevitable undertaking.

Defining root and mean parameters

The 2 parameters that GA4 focuses connected to categorize postulation correctly are:

• utm_source: The postulation referrer (i.e., google, newsletter4, billboard).
• utm_medium: The selling mean (i.e., cpc, banner, email).

So, if you acceptable the utm_source to adjacent “My Email List” and the utm_medium to adjacent “EMail,” GA4 whitethorn categorize it arsenic “Unassigned” alternatively of “EMail.”

If you’re scratching your caput astir this, here’s the reason. 

According to GA4 documentation, the pursuing criteria indispensable beryllium met for the postulation to beryllium considered from the email channel:

• Source (utm_source) = email|e-mail|e_mail|e mail
• Medium (utm_medium) = email|e-mail|e_mail|e mail

For those not acquainted with regular expressions (or regex), let’s interruption this down.

• Note determination are nary capitalizations allowed.
• Either the utm_source oregon utm_medium indispensable incorporate 1 of the values provided wherever the “|” indicates “or.”

In the illustration provided, portion the utm_medium contains “EMail,” having some an uppercase “E” and “M” means it does not adjacent “email” arsenic per the GA4 specification. (While Google whitethorn person each parameters to lowercase, you tin not trust connected them to hole your errors 100% of the time.) 

Having the sanction of an email database arsenic the worth for the utm_source parameter is inactive permissible, provided that the utm_medium equals “email.” (This is not ideal, though. The email database sanction is amended assigned to 1 of the optional parameters or, astatine a minimum, made each lowercase with the spaces removed.)

Also, portion successful the illustration of acceptable values from Google, it is permissible to usage “e mail” (with a space), it is not recommended and should beryllium avoided.

Similar specifications are disposable for each 19 GA4 channels. A implicit database of each transmission and the acceptable values can beryllium recovered here.

Pay attraction to paid channels

While we don’t person to interest astir the non-advertising channels (i.e., integrated search, integrated social, direct, referral, etc.), we request to ore connected each the different ones. 

Paid channels necessitate peculiar attention. The caller ones include: 

• Paid Social.
• Paid Shopping.
• Cross-network. 

All paid channels with “Traffic is Google Ads” successful the requirements connote that the utm_medium worth is either acceptable to “cpc”, “ppc” oregon “paid.” 

The worth of the utm_source indispensable lucifer the tract worth that Google has determined arsenic a search/social/video tract vs. thing other based connected Google’s defined list. 

If immoderate different worth is utilized for utm_medium beyond “cpc”, “ppc” oregon “paid” it volition look arsenic simply “Organic Social.”

The spreadsheet from Google is perpetually being updated, truthful beryllium definite to download the latest earlier assuming however immoderate caller advertizing spouse volition beryllium categorized.

What happens to ‘unassigned’ run data?

While we request to beryllium proactive successful aligning each our selling links to the caller Google Analytics requirements, what tin beryllium done with the information that has already been captured and reported arsenic “Unassigned” oregon possibly it was a customized transmission you defined for Universal Analytics?

This tin beryllium addressed erstwhile information is extracted from GA4 oregon BigQuery via Google’s Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio) oregon immoderate different concern quality tool. 

Within these, you tin specify your ain logic wherever utm_source and utm_medium adjacent the values you defined successful your UA customized transmission and delegate it to its ain channel. (Hence, a customized channel.) 

Dig deeper: MarTech’s in-depth GA4 coverage

Adapting to GA4’s run tracking standards

Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 disagree successful galore ways. There are method reasons down these differences, each with bully intent.

Different isn’t ever a bully happening for marketers who are utilized to the accepted attack of tracking selling campaigns. But 1 happening we tin easy code is however our online selling efforts are tagged to guarantee they get classified into our preferred channels. 

Addressing this earlier your migration from UA to GA4 volition assistance lessen the headache of the modulation and the efforts required to hole them aft you person made the inevitable move.

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