UTM parameters reference: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, utm_term and the GA4-only fields
Every UTM parameter on one page: what it answers, whether it is required, example values, the GA4 dimension it fills and the channel effect of the medium.
On this page
UTM parameters are the named fields you add to a destination URL so that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can report which campaign referred a visit. Google's campaign URL documentation (opens in a new tab) lists nine: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, utm_content, utm_id, utm_source_platform, utm_creative_format and utm_marketing_tactic. Google recommends always using source, medium and campaign, and the GA4 dimensions reference (opens in a new tab) names the session-scoped dimension each one fills. This page is a reference: one section per parameter, each answering what it is for, whether you need it, what to put in it and where GA4 shows it.
| Parameter | Need it? | GA4 dimension |
|---|---|---|
utm_source |
recommended always | Session source |
utm_medium |
recommended always | Session medium |
utm_campaign |
recommended always | Session campaign |
utm_content |
optional | Session manual ad content |
utm_term |
optional | Session manual term |
| the other four | see section | Session campaign ID, Session source platform |
utm_source
What it is. The referrer: where the visitor came from. Google's examples (opens in a new tab) are google, newsletter4 and billboard.
Need it? Google recommends always using it with medium and campaign.
Values. Google's best practice is one unique source for each distinct platform, such as Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, and a distinct source value for each individual sub-platform. In Google's summer-sale example, utm_source=summer-mailer identifies traffic from the Summer Sale email campaign.
Where GA4 shows it. The Session source (opens in a new tab) dimension, and Session source / medium in the Traffic acquisition report.
Common mistake. Describing the kind of traffic here (email, social) instead of where it came from. That is the medium's job; the source vs medium guide separates the two.
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utm_medium
What it is. The marketing medium: how the visitor arrived. Google's examples (opens in a new tab) are cpc, banner and email, and the best practice is one unique medium for each distinct channel, such as paid_social and organic_search.
Need it? Google recommends always using it.
Values and the channel each one lands in. Google's channel rules (opens in a new tab) name these values:
utm_medium value |
Channel |
|---|---|
email, e-mail, e_mail, e mail |
|
affiliate |
Affiliates |
audio |
Audio |
sms |
SMS |
ends with push, or contains mobile or notification |
Mobile Push Notifications |
organic |
Organic Search |
referral, app, link |
Referral |
social, social-network, social-media, sm, social network, social media |
Organic Social |
contains video |
Organic Video |
display, banner, expandable, interstitial, cpm |
Display |
ppc, retargeting, starts with paid, or contains cp (so cpc) |
Paid Search, Paid Social, Paid Video or Paid Shopping depending on the source; otherwise Paid Other |
ai-assistant |
AI Assistant |
| anything else | no medium rule matches; Unassigned unless a source or campaign rule applies |
The full table with the source conditions, the regular expressions and the exceptions is in the GA4 default channel group reference.
Where GA4 shows it. The Session medium (opens in a new tab) dimension.
Common mistake. A value no medium rule names, such as newsletter, which leaves the session in Unassigned unless a source or campaign rule catches it; and mixed case, since Email and email are two values in the report even though the channel rule ignores case.
utm_campaign
What it is. The campaign: Google describes it as the product, slogan or promo code, for example spring_sale. In the summer-sale example, utm_campaign=summer-sale identifies the overall campaign.
Need it? Google recommends always using it.
Values. Google's best practice (opens in a new tab) is one unique name that matches the exact campaign name, so that a single marketing effort does not split into multiple rows. A written UTM naming convention is how a team keeps to one name.
Where GA4 shows it. The Session campaign (opens in a new tab) dimension.
Common mistake. Two spellings for one campaign. Google notes that SpringSale and Spring_Sale are distinct values.
utm_content
What it is. A way to differentiate creatives. Google's example (opens in a new tab) is two call-to-action links in the same email, each with its own utm_content value, so you can tell which version performs better; one of Google's example URLs uses utm_content=toplink.
Need it? Optional.
Values. Google's best practice is a value unique to the specific creative or format that is displayed and clicked; content can appear across different ads, but the naming must stay consistent to track performance across variations.
Where GA4 shows it. The Session manual ad content (opens in a new tab) dimension, populated by tagging destination URLs with utm_content.
Common mistake. Using it for something that is not a creative, such as an audience segment.
utm_term
What it is. The paid keyword, in Google's definition (opens in a new tab).
Need it? Optional.
Values. Google's best practice is keyword-level identification with a strict, consistent format: all lowercase and identical spelling, so keywords group correctly in reports.
Where GA4 shows it. The Session manual term (opens in a new tab) dimension, populated by tagging destination URLs with utm_term.
Common mistake. Filling it on links that have no keyword, such as an organic social post.
The other four parameters
Google's campaign URL page (opens in a new tab) defines four more parameters beyond source, medium, campaign, term and content.
utm_id: the campaign ID, used to identify a specific campaign or promotion, with the same IDs you use when uploading campaign data. GA4 shows it as the Session campaign ID (opens in a new tab) dimension.utm_source_platform: the platform responsible for directing traffic to the property, such as a buying platform that sets budgets and targeting criteria; Google's examples are Search Ads 360 and Display & Video 360. GA4 shows it as Session source platform.utm_creative_format: the type of creative, for exampledisplay,native,videoorsearch. Google notes it is not currently reported in Google Analytics properties.utm_marketing_tactic: the targeting criteria applied to a campaign, for exampleremarketingorprospecting. Also not currently reported.
Google's note on completeness covers these too: if you set one UTM parameter, set all the relevant ones, especially source, medium, campaign, utm_id and utm_source_platform.
Rules that apply to every parameter
Google's manual setup rules (opens in a new tab): separate the parameters from the URL with a question mark, join each parameter and value with an equals sign, separate the pairs with an ampersand, in any order. Values are case-sensitive, so utm_source=google and utm_source=Google are different sources, and Google's best practice is lowercase as standard. A missing parameter reports as (not set). UTM values are omitted from the Landing page + query string and Page path + query string dimensions and populate the Page location dimension instead.
Two more rules sit outside the URL. Google's manual tagging and auto-tagging page (opens in a new tab) explains that when manual tagging and auto-tagging are used together, GA4 uses the auto-tagged values for source, medium and the other traffic-classification dimensions. And the Traffic acquisition report (opens in a new tab), under Acquisition in the left navigation, is where Google names Session source, Session medium, Session source / medium and Session campaign; the GA4 tracking guide walks through it. Before a link ships, the campaign link preflight checklist is the last pass. For the one-page explanation of what UTM tracking is and how a link is built, start with what UTM tracking is.
Fill them in with the builder
The free UTMTool builder builds a campaign URL with UTM parameters for GA4. Its fields are Campaign source, Campaign medium and Campaign name, with Campaign term, Campaign content and Campaign ID under More parameters; it has quick-fill buttons for Google Ads, Meta ads, LinkedIn ads, LinkedIn post and Newsletter, suggests cpc, email, social and paid-social as medium values, needs no signup, and runs in your browser so your recent links stay on your device.
Sources
- Google Analytics Help: URL builders, collect campaign data with custom URLs (opens in a new tab)
- Google Analytics Help: Analytics dimensions and metrics (opens in a new tab)
- Google Analytics Help: default channel group (opens in a new tab)
- Google Analytics Help: traffic-source dimensions, manual tagging, and auto-tagging (opens in a new tab)
- Google Analytics Help: Traffic acquisition report (opens in a new tab)
Tools for this
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Free UTM builder
Build a link with your campaign parameters.
Frequently asked questions
Which UTM parameters are required?
Google recommends always using utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign, and strongly recommends setting every relevant parameter once you set one, especially those three plus utm_id and utm_source_platform. utm_term and utm_content are optional.
Is cpc the right medium for paid social?
cpc matches Google's paid pattern, but the channel depends on the source: a source on Google's social list with a paid medium lands in Paid Social, and a source on none of Google's lists lands in Paid Other. The medium alone does not decide it.
Are UTM parameters case-sensitive?
Yes. Google treats utm_source=google and utm_source=Google as different values, and Meta and meta as different values. Use lowercase throughout.
What happens if I leave a parameter out?
A missing UTM parameter shows as (not set) in reporting. If you set one parameter, Google strongly recommends setting all the relevant ones.
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