UTMGuard Blog

Attribution Errors

Fixing attribution and source tracking errors in your analytics.

attribution-errorsDecember 14, 20256 min

Generic UTM Source Names Kill Your Attribution Analysis

Using 'social', 'email', or 'partner' as utm_source makes all campaigns look identical. Here's why specificity matters in GA4.

By Olivia JamesUpdated December 14, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsDecember 7, 20256 min

Using 'null' as utm_source tells GA4 'no source exists' instead of 'source is null'. Here's why this destroys attribution and how to fix it.

By Olivia JamesUpdated December 7, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsDecember 6, 20257 min

Using 'null', 'undefined', or '(not set)' in utm_source makes your campaign data invisible in GA4. Here's the complete forbidden keyword list.

By Olivia JamesUpdated December 6, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsDecember 5, 20257 min

Added utm_source but campaign traffic shows as (direct)? utm_medium is required—here's how GA4's attribution hierarchy actually works.

By Olivia JamesUpdated December 5, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsDecember 4, 20256 min

utm_source tracked but GA4 shows 'Unassigned' traffic? Missing utm_medium creates orphaned parameters that break attribution.

By Olivia JamesUpdated December 4, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsNovember 21, 20256 min

Partners driving traffic but not showing in GA4? Missing UTM parameters on partner links make their valuable traffic invisible.

By Olivia JamesUpdated November 21, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsNovember 4, 20257 min

Traffic showing as direct but coming from external sites? Here's how to identify, fix, and prevent direct/referrer mismatch attribution errors.

By Lily CUpdated November 4, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsOctober 28, 20258 min

Reserved keywords like 'null', 'undefined', '(not set)' break GA4 attribution. Here's how to identify, fix, and prevent them forever.

By Olivia JamesUpdated October 28, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsOctober 25, 20258 min

Orphaned UTM parameters break attribution and hide campaign performance. Here's how to identify and fix them across all your marketing channels.

By Olivia JamesUpdated October 25, 2025Read article

attribution-errorsOctober 5, 20257 min

GA4 shows 'direct' traffic but HTTP referrer says users came from external sites. Missing UTM parameters on partner links cost you attribution.

By Olivia JamesUpdated October 5, 2025Read article