[UA] About Channel Groupings

This article is about channel groupings in Universal Analytics. See the following resources for similar information related to Google Analytics 4:

• For information about default channel groups in Google Analytics 4, go to [GA4] Default channel group.
• For information about custom channel groups in Google Analytics 4, go to [GA4] Custom channel groups .

Channel Groupings are rule-based groupings of your traffic sources. Throughout Analytics reports, you can see your data organized according to the Default Channel Grouping, a grouping of the most common sources of traffic, like Paid Search and Direct. This allows you to quickly check the performance of each of your traffic channels.

In this article:

• Channel Groupings overview
• Create a Custom Channel Grouping
• Create a new Channel Grouping for a view
• Promote a Custom Channel Grouping to view level
• Copy, share, or delete a Custom Channel Grouping
• Edit the Default Channel Grouping
• Channel Groupings in Multi-Channel Funnels
• Limits and caveats
• Related resources

Channel Groupings overview

The channels in the Default Channel Grouping meet the needs of most Analytics users, but if you have specific analysis requirements and want to label your traffic in other ways, you can:

• Create a Custom Channel Grouping (user level).
• Create a new Channel Grouping (view level).
• Edit the Default Channel Grouping (view level).

When you create a Custom Channel Grouping at the user level or create a new Channel Grouping in a view, you:

• Can immediately select it in reports.
• Can apply it retroactively and see historical data classified by your new channel definitions.
• Change how reports display your data, without changing the data itself.

When you edit the Default Channel Grouping for a view, you:

• Permanently change the raw data for new sessions by altering how Analytics labels incoming traffic. All sessions that occur after you edit the Default Channel Grouping are labelled according to your updated channel definitions.
• Can't apply your new channel definitions retroactively, so the historical Channel Grouping of traffic won't change.

Create a Custom Channel Grouping

A Custom Channel Grouping is only visible to the user who created it. To create a Custom Channel Grouping:

1. Sign in to Google Analytics.
2. Click Admin, and navigate to the view in which you want to create a Custom Channel Grouping.
3. Under PERSONAL TOOLS & ASSETS, click Custom Channel Grouping.
4. Click +New Channel Grouping.
5. Enter a name for your new channel grouping.
6. Click +Define a new channel.
7. Enter a name for your new channel.
8. Define the rules for the new channel. These rules are not case sensitive.
   • From the first drop-down menu, select a dimension.
   • From the second drop-down menu, select an operator.
   • In the text field, enter the value you want to use. For example, Source contains plus.google.com.
   • Add AND and OR statements as necessary, then click Done.
9. Add and define additional channels.
10. Drag the channels to specify the order in which they should apply.
11. Click the Save button.

You can create a maximum of 100 Custom Channel Groupings per user.

Create a new Channel Grouping for a view

You can create a new Channel Grouping for a view and immediately see it reflected in your reports.

1. Sign in to Google Analytics.
2. Click Admin, and navigate to the view in which you want to create a new Channel Grouping.
3. Click Channel Settings.
4. Click Channel Grouping.
5. Click +New Channel Grouping.
6. Enter a name for your new channel grouping.
7. Click +Define a new channel.
8. Enter a name for your new channel.
9. Define the rules for the new channel. These rules are not case sensitive.
   • From the first drop-down menu, select a dimension.
   • From the second drop-down menu, select an operator.
   • In the text field, enter the value you want to use. For example, Source contains plus.google.com.
   • Add AND and OR statements as necessary, then click Done.
10. Add and define additional channels.
11. Drag the channels to specify the order in which they should apply.
12. Click Save.

You can see your new Channel Grouping in the Channels report by selecting from the Primary Dimension drop-down menu. In Multi-Channel Funnels reports, your new Channel Grouping is available in the Channel Groupings drop-down menu.

You can create a maximum of 50 new Channel Groupings per view.

Promote a Custom Channel Grouping to view level

If you have Editor access at the view level, you can promote one or more of your Custom Channel Groupings from the user level to the view level. Promoting a Custom Channel Grouping creates a copy of it at the view level, enabling:

• Users with the view level Viewer role or higher to see and use the promoted Channel Grouping.
• Users with the view level Editor role to edit the view level configuration from Channel Settings > Channel Grouping.

You'll still retain control over your original user level Custom Channel Grouping. The promoted Channel Grouping counts toward the view's limit of 50 Channel Groupings.

Copy, share, or delete a Custom Channel Grouping

After you have created and saved a Custom Channel Grouping, you can copy, delete, or share it directly with others, or share it in the Solutions Gallery.

When you share a Custom Channel Grouping, only the configuration information is shared. Your data remains private. Learn more about sharing assets, including how to share many Custom Channel Groupings at the same time.

You can also delete or copy a Custom Channel Grouping. When you copy a Custom Grouping, you can use it as a foundation for creating another Custom Channel Grouping.

To copy, share, or delete a Custom Channel Grouping:

1. Sign in to your Analytics Account.
2. Click Admin, and navigate to your desired view.
3. In the View column, click Custom Channel Groupings.
4. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Copy, Share, or Delete.

Edit the Default Channel Grouping

You can edit the Default Channel Grouping to define new channels, remove existing channels, and change channel definitions. You can't edit the system definition, but you can use different dimensions to redefine an existing channel.

Example
You can change the definition of the Social channel from "System Defined Channel exactly matches Social" to "Source contains plus.google.com|facebook.com."

Remember, any changes you make to a view's Default Channel Grouping:

• Permanently change how Analytics classifies your traffic.
• Are visible to all users of the view.
• Are not applied retroactively, so the historical Channel Grouping of traffic won't change.

To edit the channel definitions:

1. Sign in to Google Analytics.
2. Click Admin, and navigate to the desired view.
3. Click Channel Settings.
4. Click Channel Grouping.
5. Click Default Channel Grouping.
6. To edit a channel, click the edit icon (pencil).
7. Edit the rules for the channel. These rules are not case sensitive.
   • From the first drop-down menu, select a dimension.
   • From the second drop-down menu, select an operator.
   • In the text field, enter the value you want to use. For example, Source contains plus.google.com.
   • Add AND and OR statements as necessary, then click Done.
8. To add a new channel, click Define a new channel.
9. To remove a channel, click the delete icon (X), then click Delete Rule in the pop-up.
10. Click Save.

If you edit the default channel definitions, you can go back to the defaults by clicking Reset channels at the top of the list. This is not retroactive; any sessions that occurred before you reverted to the default channels will still be classified with your prior channel definitions.

Channel Groupings in Multi-Channel Funnels

The Multi-Channel Funnels > Assisted Conversions and Top Conversion Paths reports use the Default MCF Channel Grouping by default. You can change the Primary Dimension to see your data ordered by the Default Channel Grouping. To see your data ordered by a Custom Channel Grouping or new view level Channel Grouping, select the name from the Channel Groupings drop-down menu.

Limits and caveats

Limits

Each user can create a maximum of 100 Custom Channel Groupings. Each view can contain a maximum of 50 Channel Groupings, not including the Default Channel Grouping.

Channel Grouping and view filters

Default and Custom Channel Grouping use filtered dimension values to classify a session as belonging to a channel. This means that Channel Grouping follows mutated or altered dimension values due to any view filters you may have.

Example

You use a Search and Replace filter to change a campaign name from Campaign A to Campaign B. If you include Campaign B in the definition for Channel X, any sessions resulting from clicks to Campaign A will be grouped into Channel X.

Please note that prior to March 2017 for 360 accounts and prior to September 2016 for Standard accounts, aggregated channel groups were assigned before view filters modified dimension values. In some cases, this led to a mismatch between channel definitions and the channel that a session was assigned to. However, we have adjusted this behavior to make the product more consistent.

Channel Grouping and Multi-Channel Funnels cost data

Not all dimensions allow Analytics to query associated cost data. If such dimensions are used to define a Channel Grouping, the cost data for all the channels in the Channel Grouping can't be retrieved.

Campaign Manager 360, Display & Video 360, and Search Ads 360 dimensions

Dimensions for Campaign Manager 360, Display & Video 360, and Search Ads 360 are not available for Default Channel Groupings. Those dimensions are, however, available for custom Channel Groupings that you create.

Differences between Channels report and Google Ads reports

Google Ads dimension values at daily processing time are used to permanently determine the Channel Grouping for traffic. If these dimension values change (for example, a campaign is renamed in Google Ads), the historical Channel Grouping of that traffic will not change. You may notice differences between your Google Ads reports and Channels report because the Google Ads section reports the current or "live" (at report load time) dimension values of Google Ads traffic.

Channel Grouping and regular expressions

When you use a regular expression as a definition for a channel, it is treated as a full match by default; that is, it only matches the exact term entered. If you want the channel grouping editor to act as a regular expression search instead, add .* at the beginning and the end of the string.

Example
You want to define a channel to include traffic from a campaign containing the term January (e.g., January1, 2ndJanuary, January). Instead of specifying the rule as January (which will only return January), enter it as .*January.*

If you need to make a specific match, construct you regex accordingly. For example, if you need to match only the string "site", then construct your regex so that "site" is both the beginning and end of the string: ^site$.

Rich Media and Impressions are always classified as Display

Rich Media and Impressions are always classified as Display, and cannot be recategorized in non-default Channel Groupings.

Related resources

• Default Channel Grouping channel definitions
• About Multi-Channel Funnels
• About view filters
• Google Ads reports