utm_source and utm_medium values: a reference list

utm_source says where a click came from. utm_medium says what kind of channel it was. Google Analytics 4 sorts traffic into channels mostly by the medium, so a few fixed values keep the reports readable.

Updated

Source and medium in one sentence each

One medium covers many sources. LinkedIn, Facebook and Reddit are three sources with the medium social.

  • utm_source is the specific place: newsletter, linkedin, google, a partner's name.
  • utm_medium is the category that place belongs to: email, social, cpc, referral.

utm_medium values and the GA4 channel they map to

Do not set organic by hand. GA4 assigns it to visits from search engines that carry no UTM parameters.

  • email goes to Email. GA4 also accepts e-mail and e_mail.
  • social goes to Organic Social. GA4 also accepts social-media and sm.
  • cpc or ppc goes to Paid Search when the source is a search engine, and to Paid Social when the source is a social network. Any medium that starts with paid works the same way.
  • display, banner or cpm goes to Display.
  • affiliate goes to Affiliates.
  • referral goes to Referral.
  • sms goes to SMS.
  • audio goes to Audio, for podcast ads.
  • video, or any medium that contains video, goes to Organic Video.
  • push goes to Mobile Push Notifications.

utm_source values

The source has no fixed list. Use the lowercase name of the platform or sender, and write it the same way every time.

  • Search ads: google, bing.
  • Social: linkedin, facebook, instagram, youtube, reddit, tiktok.
  • Email: newsletter, onboarding, receipt, or the name of the list.
  • Partners: the partner's name, such as acme-blog.
  • Offline: qr-code, flyer, event-booth, with a medium of your own such as offline.

Combinations that work

Newsletter link      utm_source=newsletter  utm_medium=email
LinkedIn post        utm_source=linkedin    utm_medium=social
LinkedIn ad          utm_source=linkedin    utm_medium=cpc
Google search ad     utm_source=google      utm_medium=cpc
Partner blog         utm_source=acme-blog   utm_medium=referral
Podcast ad           utm_source=podcast-name utm_medium=audio
UTM & URL Parameter GeneratorAdd UTM parameters to any URL and copy a clean campaign link for emails, ads and social posts.

Values that end up as Unassigned

If you need a medium of your own, add a custom channel group in GA4 under Admin, Data display, Channel groups, and write a rule for it.

  • A medium GA4 has no rule for, such as newsletter, post, organic-social or blast.
  • Source and medium swapped, such as utm_source=email with utm_medium=mailchimp.
  • A medium with a capital letter in a custom channel rule you wrote for lowercase.

Tools for this guide

All tools →
UTM & URL Parameter GeneratorAdd UTM parameters to any URL and copy a clean campaign link for emails, ads and social posts.Canonical URL CheckerCheck if the canonical URL tag is properly set and matches the final URL.Meta Tags CheckerInspect all meta tags including title, description, Open Graph, Twitter cards, and canonical URL.

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