{"id":8682,"date":"2026-11-01T09:36:03","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T02:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adtek.agency\/glossary\/utm-parameters\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T09:36:03","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T02:36:03","slug":"utm-parameters","status":"publish","type":"mona_glossary","link":"https:\/\/adtek.agency\/en\/glossary\/utm-parameters\/","title":{"rendered":"UTM parameters"},"content":{"rendered":"

UTM parameters are tags added to the end of a link, such as utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign, that tell Google Analytics which source, channel and campaign a visit came from. Example: example.com\/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=tet2027.<\/p>\n

What is UTM?<\/h2>\n

UTM comes from Urchin, the web analytics software Google has since discontinued. Google’s Urchin help page names the module Urchin Tracking Module (Urchin Help, Urchin Tracking Module (UTM), accessed November 2026<\/a>). The name is old, the method is not: Google Analytics 4 reads utm_ parameters on URLs.<\/p>\n

When someone clicks a link with UTM parameters, the values are sent to Analytics and appear in the Traffic acquisition report, where you can see Session source\/medium and Session campaign for each group of links (Analytics Help, URL builders: Collect campaign data with custom URLs, accessed November 2026<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The UTM parameters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Parameter<\/th>\nUsed for<\/th>\nExample value<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
utm_source<\/td>\nThe referrer<\/td>\ngoogle, facebook, newsletter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
utm_medium<\/td>\nThe marketing medium<\/td>\ncpc, email, paid_social<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
utm_campaign<\/td>\nCampaign, product or promo code<\/td>\nspring_sale<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
utm_content<\/td>\nTelling creatives or link positions apart<\/td>\nvideo_a, banner_top<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
utm_term<\/td>\nPaid keyword<\/td>\nwater_purifier<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
utm_id<\/td>\nCampaign ID, used when uploading campaign data to GA4<\/td>\ntet2027_01<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Google recommends always setting utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign. Missing parameters show up as (not set) in reports. utm_source_platform, utm_creative_format and utm_marketing_tactic are less common, and the last two are not currently reported in GA4 (same Analytics Help source).<\/p>\n

UTM naming rules<\/h2>\n

UTM values are case sensitive: utm_source=google differs from utm_source=Google, and SpringSale differs from Spring_Sale. GA4 splits them into separate rows. Google’s advice:<\/p>\n