Raydar free tools · Link decoder

Decode a link with utm_source_platform in it

utm_source_platform tells Google Analytics which platform bought or managed the traffic. Paste a link to see it next to utm_source, the tag it gets mistaken for.

Example: https://example.com/offer?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=spring_sale&utm_source_platform=Search%20Ads%20360

Where the ad was bought, not where it ran

Google defines utm_source_platform as "the platform responsible for directing traffic to a given Analytics property", such as a buying platform that sets budgets and targeting, or a platform that manages organic traffic data. Its own examples are Search Ads 360 and Display & Video 360. The value names the tool someone used to run the campaign.

utm_source answers a different question. Google's examples for it are google, newsletter4 and billboard, the place the visitor came from. One campaign bought in Display & Video 360 can send traffic from many sources, and the platform value stays the same across all of them.

How GA4 files it

GA4 has a built-in Source platform dimension. Its listed values include Google Ads, SA360, Shopping Free Listings, and Manual for traffic that is not from Google's own media. utm_source_platform feeds a separate set: Manual source platform, Session manual source platform and First user manual source platform. Look there, not under Source platform, when you want to see what your tag recorded.

Why Google asks for it

On its UTM help page, Google says that if you set one UTM parameter you should set all the relevant ones, and it names utm_source_platform in that list with source, medium, campaign and utm_id. Leave it off and the manual source platform dimension reads (not set) for those visits. For a team running each campaign through one platform, the gap costs little. For a team buying the same campaign through several platforms, this is the tag built to tell them apart.

Stripping it, and spelling it

Removing it changes nothing for the visitor. It names a platform, not a person, so there is no privacy reason to cut it from a link you share. For the marketer, the visit loses that one dimension. If you set it, pick one spelling and keep it. Google treats values as case sensitive, and a value with spaces such as Search Ads 360 becomes Search%20Ads%20360 in the URL. Build the full set in the UTM builder.

Questions

What is utm_source_platform?

Google defines it as "the platform responsible for directing traffic to a given Analytics property", such as a buying platform that sets budgets and targeting. Its examples are Search Ads 360 and Display & Video 360.

What is the difference between utm_source_platform and utm_source?

utm_source is where the visitor came from, such as google, newsletter4 or billboard. utm_source_platform names the tool used to run the campaign, and one campaign bought in Display & Video 360 can send traffic from many sources under the same platform value.

Where does utm_source_platform show up in GA4?

In the Manual source platform, Session manual source platform and First user manual source platform dimensions. GA4's built-in Source platform dimension is a separate field, so look under the manual ones.

Related parameters: utm_creative_format · utm_marketing_tactic · gad_campaignid · gclsrc

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