GA4 Channel Checker

Type a source and medium to see which GA4 default channel group the traffic will land in – and why campaigns end up as “Unassigned” or “Paid Other”.

Type a source and medium to see which GA4 default channel group the traffic will most likely land in.

All GA4 default channel rules
ChannelRule (manual traffic)Example
Cross-networkCampaign name contains “cross-network”google / cpc · campaign: q4-cross-network
Paid ShoppingShopping site source or a campaign name containing “shop”/“shopping”, with a paid mediumgoogle / cpc · campaign: summer-shopping
Paid SearchSearch-engine source with a medium matching cpc, ppc, retargeting or paid…google / cpc
Paid SocialSocial-network source with a paid mediumfacebook / paid-social
Paid VideoVideo-site source with a paid mediumyoutube / cpv
DisplayMedium is display, banner, expandable, interstitial or cpmprogrammatic / display
Paid OtherPaid medium, but the source is not a known search, social, video or shopping sitepartner / paid
Organic ShoppingShopping site source or shopping campaign nameamazon / referral
Organic SocialSocial-network source, or medium social, social-network, social-media, smlinkedin / social
Organic VideoVideo-site source, or a medium containing “video”vimeo / video
Organic SearchSearch-engine source, or medium “organic”bing / organic
ReferralMedium is referral, app or linkpartner-site / referral
EmailSource or medium is email, e-mail, e_mail or “e mail”newsletter / email
AffiliatesMedium is affiliateawin / affiliate
AudioMedium is audiospotify / audio
SMSSource or medium is smstwilio / sms
Mobile Push NotificationsMedium ends in “push” or contains “mobile” / “notification”, or source is firebaseapp / web-push
AI AssistantMedium is ai-assistantchatgpt / ai-assistant

Rules are evaluated top to bottom and the first match wins. GA4 matches sources against long lists of known sites; this tool uses the most common ones, so treat the result as a prediction.

How GA4 assigns channels

Every session in Google Analytics 4 gets a default channel group based on its source, medium and campaign name. GA4 checks a fixed list of rules in order and uses the first that matches: is the medium a paid one (cpc, ppc, retargeting or anything starting with “paid”) and is the source a search engine? Then it is Paid Search. Is the medium “email”? Then it is Email. And so on, down to Unassigned when nothing matches.

Two details catch most people out. First, the source matters: “facebook / cpc” is Paid Social, but “partner / cpc” is Paid Other because GA4 does not know “partner” as a social network. Second, the medium has to match GA4’s vocabulary exactly: “email” works, “newsletter” does not; “social” works, “organic-social” does not.

How to fix “Unassigned” traffic in GA4

  1. In GA4, open Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition, set the dimension to “Session source / medium” and filter the channel to Unassigned.
  2. For each source / medium pair, enter it above to see which rule it misses.
  3. Change the medium in future links to a recognised value – the builder and bulk builder warn you automatically.
  4. For mediums you want to keep (for example “qr” or “print”), create a custom channel group in GA4 Admin → Data display → Channel groups. Custom groups also apply to historical data.

GA4 channel FAQ

Why is my traffic “Unassigned” in GA4?

Because its source and medium match none of GA4’s default channel rules – most often a custom medium such as “newsletter”, “qr” or “print”. Use a recognised medium or define a custom channel group.

What is “Paid Other”?

Traffic with a paid medium (cpc, ppc, paid-…) whose source GA4 does not recognise as a search engine, social network, video or shopping site. Use the platform’s common name as the source to fix it.

Does changing my links fix old data?

No – default channel groups are applied when data is processed. Custom channel groups, however, are applied retroactively, so they are the way to reclassify historical traffic.