UTM Tags for Newsletter, Podcast and Creator Buys: Which utm_medium Puts Each Click in the Right GA4 Channel

What does each part of a tagged link tell GA4?

A UTM tag is a name-value pair added to the end of a link, after a ?, that tells Google Analytics where the visit came from. Google says to always use three of them, utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign, and strongly recommends utm_id as well; a parameter you leave out shows as (not set) in reports (GA4 Help: URL builders).

Case: values are case sensitive in reports (utm_source=google and utm_source=Google are different), so Google advises lowercase (GA4 Help: URL builders). The channel rules themselves are not case sensitive (GA4 default channel group): Email still lands in Email, but splits your rows.

Which utm_medium should each paid placement use?

One rule of thumb covers every buy: if GA4 has a channel for the format, use that channel's medium; if it has none, start the medium with paid. Each tag below matches one rule on Google's channel page, unless its note says otherwise.

• Slot in someone else's newsletter

  sourceexamplenewsmediumemail

  Email

  The Email rule matches a medium of email. Your own newsletter lands here too, so tell them apart by source.

• Host-read podcast ad

  sourceshownamemediumaudio

  Audio

  Audio needs a medium that exactly matches audio. Use the tagged link in the show notes and behind the spoken short link.

• Creator's own post (you paid the creator)

  sourceinstagrammediumsocial

  Organic Social

  The platform was not paid to show it, and GA4 has no creator channel. Put the creator's name in utm_content.

• Ad run through a creator's account

  sourceinstagrammediumpaid_social

  Paid Social

  Paid Social needs a social source and a paid medium. The same tag also meets Organic Social (by source) and Paid Other (by medium): check where the first clicks land.

• Creator video on YouTube, link in description

  sourceyoutubemediumvideo

  Organic Video

  YouTube is on Google's video list, and a medium containing video meets the same rule. social here would meet two rules.

• Banner on a publisher's site

  sourceexample.commediumdisplay

  Display

  Display accepts display, banner, expandable, interstitial and cpm. Prefer display: cpm also fits Paid Other.

• Sponsored article or paid listing

  sourceexample.commediumpaid_article

  Paid Other

  No channel has a word for it. Any medium starting with paid meets Paid Other, so the cost stays with paid traffic, not with free links.

• Creator code paid per sale

  sourcecreatornamemediumaffiliate

  Affiliates

  The Affiliates rule is one word: a medium of affiliate.

Which medium values send clicks to Unassigned?

Unassigned is the value GA4 uses when no channel rule matches a click (GA4 default channel group). The rack below drops common medium values into the slot their rule sends them to, when the source is a newsletter, show or site name that is not on Google's social, video, search or shopping lists.

Two common values meet more than one rule: cpm fits Display and Paid Other (its letters contain cp), and paid_video fits Organic Video and Paid Other. Google publishes the rules but not the order it checks them in, so pick values that meet one rule only. That is why neither appears in the rack.

Why does the source name matter for creator and video buys?

Paid Social, Paid Video and Paid Search need the source to be on a list Google publishes, and Organic Social, Organic Video, Organic Search and both Shopping channels also accept a source from that list. The list Google offers for download has 819 entries. A newsletter, podcast or publisher name is usually not on it (a few publishers are, so look the name up), and then only the medium counts.

Names that are on the list, and names that are not

Google's own UTM page suggests insta as a short source for Instagram (GA4 Help: URL builders), yet the downloaded list holds instagram, instagram.com and ig, not insta. Use the list's spelling, and look a name up before you send a link that depends on it.

Which campaign names change the channel?

Two patterns in the campaign name, not the medium, can change the channel. A name containing cross-network meets the Cross-network rule. A name that matches the Shopping pattern meets Organic Shopping, and with a paid medium, Paid Shopping (GA4 default channel group):

^(.*(([^a-df-z]|^)shop|shopping).*)$

In words: the name contains shopping, or shop at the start or after a character that is not a letter from a to d or f to z. Run against that pattern, ignoring case as the channel rules do:

coffeeshop matches because e is the one letter the pattern leaves out. If a buy is called "shop week", name the campaign week42_offer and keep the wording in utm_content.

How do you give creator and podcast buys their own channel?

Build a custom channel group: your own copy of the channels, where you set the rules and their order. In GA4, open Admin, then Data display, then Channel groups, and create a new group; it starts as a copy of the default one. Add a channel, for example "Creators", with a rule such as medium exactly matches creator, then drag it above Organic Social and save: traffic goes into the first channel, in the group's order, whose rule it matches. You need Editor access or higher, a standard property can have 2 custom groups of up to 50 channels each, and a custom group applies to past data too (GA4 Help: custom channel groups).

The default group stays as it is, so a creator medium is still Unassigned there. Use it only if your team reads the custom group.

What should you check before a tagged link goes to a publisher?

• Source, medium and campaign are all set, and the campaign has a utm_id.
• The medium is on the rack above and meets one rule, not two.
• A social or video source uses the list's spelling.
• Every value is lowercase, with underscores or hyphens instead of spaces.
• The campaign name has no shop or cross-network by accident.
• Each slot or creative has its own utm_content.
• You opened the link once and saw the visit arrive in GA4's Realtime report.
• A day later, Traffic acquisition shows the click in the channel you expected.