UTM & Attribution Spec — Per-Vendor, GA4 Match Strategy

Goal: Near 100% match between GA4 (source of truth) and ad platform reporting at campaign level (then ad/creative).

Two tracks:

CRM SKU (Google only): add kcid / kpv custom parameters (no utm_ prefix) on top of auto-tagging — for form capture and offline match. Paste instructions in implementation guide.

Related: Data & tracking · GA4 source of truth · Campaign execution · Reporting

Principles

Canonical contracts

Track A — Google Ads (no utm_*)

GA4 knows Google traffic from Google Ads data source + session gclid — not from utm_*.

Track B — Meta / TikTok / DV360 (utm_* schema)

GA4 custom dimensions (all tenants)

Execution decision tree

Social: never static human slug in utm_campaign. Google: never any utm_* parameter on ads URLs.

Per-vendor specification

Google Ads — auto-tagging only (no utm_*)

All Google products (Search, Display, Shopping, PMax, YouTube, Demand Gen): same rule — no utm_*.

CRM SKU — custom parameters (paste on forms + optional URL suffix)

Use non-utm_ query params so auto-tagging stays clean:

Optional final_url_suffix (CRM SKU only) — campaign level:

kcid={_kcid}&kpv={_kpv}

Define custom parameters on campaign / ad group in Google Ads API (custom_parameters or url_custom_parameters):

Implementation guide §: “Add hidden fields gclid (auto from URL), kcid, kpv — do not add utm_* fields for Google traffic.”

API surfaces (execution):

Onboarding: enable auto_tagging_enabled ✅; verify GA4 ↔ Ads link when client grants Admin (cross-check).

Meta (Facebook / Instagram)

Recommended URL tags (ad set or account):

utm_source={{site_source_name}}&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign={{campaign.id}}&utm_content={{ad.id}}&utm_term={{adset.id}}

Fallback (no macros — rare):

After POST ad create, set creative.link_data.link / asset_feed_spec URLs with:

utm_campaign={campaign_id}&utm_content={ad_id} from API response.

Advantage+ / dynamic creative: macros still apply on served ad; verify in Ads Manager preview. If URL frozen at creative bundle level → system regenerate on each creative variant ID.

TikTok Ads

Recommended URL suffix:

utm_source=tiktok&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=__CAMPAIGN_ID__&utm_content=__CID__&utm_term=__AID__

Fallback: post-create inject from campaign_id, adgroup_id, ad_id fields on ad object.

DV360 (deferred SKU)

Execution service responsibilities

At apply(plan_version) (campaign execution):

execution_manifest tracking slice (illustrative)

Google (CRM SKU):

{
  "logical_campaign_key": "health_search_brand_v3",
  "platform": "google_ads",
  "platform_campaign_id": "12345678901",
  "tracking_mode": "auto_tagging",
  "final_url_suffix": "kcid={_kcid}&kpv={_kpv}",
  "custom_parameters": { "_kcid": "uuid", "_kpv": "3" },
  "utm_forbidden": true
}

Meta:

{
  "platform": "meta",
  "platform_campaign_id": "120210...",
  "tracking_mode": "macro",
  "url_tags": "utm_source={{site_source_name}}&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign={{campaign.id}}&utm_content={{ad.id}}"
}

GA4 ↔ platform match strategy (near 100%)

Join hierarchy (use in order — stop at first hit)

Google does not use utm_campaign in join logic.

Normalization for name fallback: lowercase, trim, collapse spaces, strip emoji, remove | Kobi suffixes from auto-naming.

Target match rates (rolling 7d, campaign grain)

Unmatched volume → attribution_gap reason codes: missing_gclid, ads_link_broken, missing_utm (social only), name_mismatch, pmax_granularity, consent_denied, redirect_strip.

Reporting join flow

Optimization rule: bid and budget decisions use GA4 metrics joined on campaign ID; platform UI conversions are diagnostic only (ga4-source-of-truth.md).

QC checklist (deterministic — not LLM)

Google Ads

Meta / TikTok / DV360

CRM & offline alignment

Google-sourced leads (CRM SKU)

Meta / TikTok-sourced leads

Offline upload: click ID first, then hashed PII. Google offline conversions use gclid only — not utm_*.

Implementation guide deliverable (onboarding)

Related documents

• Data & tracking
• GA4 source of truth
• Google Ads
• Meta Ads
• TikTok Ads
• Internal CRM
• Onboarding provisioning spec — guide §6.4b