SendGrid UTM parameters, and the two example sources that misfile email
Twilio SendGrid adds UTM parameters to email links when Google Analytics Tracking is enabled under Settings, Tracking. SendGrid says it uses "the recommended Google settings" without printing them, so type your own: a source naming the send, utm_medium=email and a campaign name. Skip google and yahoo as the source, even though SendGrid's help lists them as examples.
The interactive UTM builder loads with this page, pre-filled for SendGrid, and runs entirely in your browser.
sendgrid isn't on any of Google's source lists, so no search, social, video or shopping rule gets to the click before GA4's Email rule, which the email medium satisfies.
Where to put it
Account settings: go to Settings, then Tracking, and click Google Analytics Tracking.
Fill in Campaign Source, Campaign Medium and Campaign Name, and Campaign Content if you want one. Leave Campaign Term empty: SendGrid says it applies only to search-based campaigns.
Toggle Setting State to Enabled and click Save.
Per message through the Mail Send API: set tracking_settings.ganalytics with enable and the five fields utm_source, utm_medium, utm_term, utm_content and utm_campaign.
Send a test and check one link lands on your page with the tags still on it.
Someone setting up SendGrid's Google Analytics Tracking panel reads the help page, sees google as the first example for Campaign Source, and types it in. From then on GA4 files their emails under Organic Search. google is on Google's own list of search sites, GA4's Organic Search rule matches any source on that list, and the channel table checks Organic Search before it reaches Email, so the email medium never gets a say. yahoo, the next example, is on the search list too. The Mail Send API reference gives Google, capitalised, as its sample source, and case doesn't matter to GA4's channel rules, so that lands in Organic Search as well. Name the send or the tool instead: utm_source=sendgrid or utm_source=newsletter.
The defaults aren't published. The panel says SendGrid uses the recommended Google settings until you override them. Neither the tracking settings page nor SendGrid's Google Analytics article says what those settings are. Don't build reports on values you can't see: fill in source, medium and campaign yourself. Google's help says a parameter you leave out shows up in reports as (not set).
The panel holds one set of values. It sits in account settings, so a Campaign Name typed there is the campaign name for everything until someone changes it. For a name per send, use the Mail Send API, which takes the same five values per message under tracking_settings.ganalytics. SendGrid's help adds that these values only differentiate and identify your campaign; they don't change how Google Analytics itself works.
Clicks go through SendGrid first. With click tracking on, SendGrid rewrites every link in the email to point at its own servers, or at your branded link domain, and tracks up to 1,000 links per email. Your tagged URL is where that redirect ends. Take any link from your test send and paste it into the redirect checker: the final URL should still carry every utm_ value.
SendGrid's clicks and GA4's visits are separate counts. SendGrid's own article says Google Analytics clicks "are in no way related" to SendGrid clicks. Visits should roughly follow SendGrid's unique clicks, but SendGrid counts unique clicks per message, not per link, so a reader who clicks through to two of your sites is one unique click and two visits. A link to a page without Google Analytics, such as your Facebook profile, is a SendGrid click with no visit at all. Unique clicks vs total clicks covers the difference between the two counts.
Questions
What is a UTM in an email?
A set of utm_ tags on the links in an email, such as utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=october-update, that labels where the visit started for your analytics. GA4 uses utm_medium=email to put the click in its Email channel. SendGrid can add them for you from its Google Analytics Tracking settings.
Is a UTM the same as a URL?
No. A UTM parameter is part of a URL: a name=value pair after the question mark, such as utm_medium=email. The address before the question mark decides which page opens. The utm_ pairs label the visit for your analytics.
How do I add UTM parameters with the SendGrid API?
In the Mail Send request, set tracking_settings.ganalytics with enable: true and the fields utm_source, utm_medium, utm_term, utm_content and utm_campaign. Use lowercase email as the medium and avoid google or yahoo as the source.