The Source Platform dimension in Google Analytics helps you identify the platform where the traffic source for a conversion or key event was managed. This article explains how Source Platform is processed and populated to provide consistent reporting across Google Analytics and Google advertising products.
How Source Platform is populated
Source Platform is populated using default logic that supports the existing “source” and “medium” dimensions. Both the source and medium are required to accurately identify the Source Platform. For Google sources, Source Platform aligns with existing Ads inventory sources.
Google inventory mappings
For traffic originating from Google products, the Source Platform is identified based on the specific inventory source. The following table describes the Source Platform values for Google inventory:
|
Google inventory |
Source platform |
|---|---|
|
YouTube |
Google Ads, Display & Video 360, Search Ads 360, Campaign Manager 360 |
|
Google Search |
Google Ads, Search Ads 360 |
|
Search Partners |
Google Ads, Search Ads 360 |
|
Google Display Network |
Google Ads, Display & Video 360, Search Ads 360, Campaign Manager 360 |
|
Discover |
Google Ads, Search Ads 360 |
|
Gmail |
Google Ads, Search Ads 360 |
|
Maps |
Google Ads, Search Ads 360, Campaign Manager 360 |
|
Google TV |
Google Ads, Search Ads 360 |
|
Other Google Inventory |
Google Ads, Search Ads 360 |
Third-party platform mappings
For all other sources, Google Analytics evaluates UTM source and medium values in a two-step process to determine the Source Platform.
First, the Medium is checked to identify if the traffic is paid; the regex used to determine a paid medium is as follows (table below of examples):
Medium matches regex ^(.cp.*|ppc|retargeting|paid.)$OR the string matches exactly ‘display’ or ‘appremarketing’
Paid `medium` value definition:
When `medium` value satisfies the following cases, it’s considered as a paid `medium` value.
|
Medium value cases |
Examples |
|
Any string that contains “cp” |
cpc, social-cpc, cpm |
|
Exactly the string "ppc". |
ppc |
|
Exactly the string "retargeting". |
retargeting |
|
Any string that starts with "paid". |
paid_search, paid_social, paid |
|
Exactly the string "display". |
display |
|
Exactly the string "appremarketing". |
appremarketing |
If no paid UTM Medium is found, the Source Platform is categorized as "Unlabeled".
Second, if the traffic is identified as having a paid Medium, the UTM Source is evaluated to map the traffic to specific advertising platforms according to the classifications provided in the table below.
|
UTM source values |
Source platform |
|
|
With paid UTM `medium` values |
With non-paid UTM `medium` values |
|
|
%facebook%, meta, fbook, fb, messenger |
Meta Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%instagram%, ig |
Meta Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%tiktok%, tt, %tik-tok%, %bytedance% |
TikTok Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
snap, %snapchat% |
Snapchat Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
x, %twitter% |
X Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%bing%, %microsoft% |
Microsoft Advertising |
Unlabeled |
|
%yandex% |
Yandex Direct |
Unlabeled |
|
%pinterest% |
Pinterest Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%reddit% |
Reddit Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%linkedin% |
LinkedIn Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%amazon%, %amzn% |
Amazon Advertising |
Unlabeled |
|
%kakao% |
Kakao Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%whatsapp% |
Meta Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%apple% |
Apple Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
%yahoo% |
Yahoo Advertising |
Unlabeled |
|
%gemini%, %openai%, %perplexity% |
Other Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
(direct) |
Other Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
(not set) |
Other Ads |
Unlabeled |
|
All others |
Other Ads |
Unlabeled |
To resolve this for future data, update your UTM parameters to align with the recommended values for paid channels. Learn more about Default channel group.
Benefits of the updated Source Platform dimension
The updates to Source Platform classifications are designed to align with the Source Grouping dimension (which helps to standardize source dimension values in order to improve your source reporting) to provide the following benefits:
- Standardized reporting: Provides a consistent level of granularity for both third-party platforms and Google inventory.
- Cross-Platform analysis: Enables easier and more accurate analysis of performance across different advertising platforms.
- Data consistency: Improves the standardization of source dimension values to enhance budget analysis and reporting.