Sources, mediums, campaigns and channels

Each tracked call records where the visitor came from as a source, a medium, a campaign, a term, a content value and a channel. Call Tracking works these out from the session's landing page using the same rules as Google Analytics 4, so your call reports line up with your web reports.

How source and medium are decided

Call Tracking reads the landing page URL and referrer of the session and applies the first rule that matches:

1. Google Ads click IDs. If the landing URL has a gclid, gbraid or wbraid, the call is google / cpc, even when the URL also has UTM parameters. Google Analytics 4 usually does the same when Google Ads is linked and auto-tagging is on, so a tracking template that tags Google Ads clicks with its own values, such as utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc from a CRM's ad tracking, still reports as Paid Search. If Google Ads isn't linked to Google Analytics, or it can't resolve the click, Google Analytics falls back to the UTM values and the two reports can differ.
2. UTM parameters. Otherwise, if the landing URL has utm_source or utm_medium, those values are used as they are. A missing half is recorded as (not set).
3. Other click IDs. If there are no UTM parameters but the URL has another ad click ID, the source and medium are inferred: msclkid gives bing / cpc. A Meta fbclid is captured for the Meta Ads integration but isn't used to infer a source, so add UTM parameters to Meta ad URLs.
4. Referrer. If the referrer is another website, a known search engine gives <engine> / organic, such as google / organic, and any other site gives <hostname> / referral. Referrals from the website's own domains are ignored.
5. Direct. Otherwise the call is (direct) / (none).

The campaign, term and content come from utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content when present, including on Google Ads clicks. When the source wasn't set by campaign tags, the attribution panel shows where it came from: from ad click id, from referrer, or no referrer or campaign tags. Sources from campaign tags show no hint.

Examples

Landing URL and referrer	Source	Medium	Campaign
/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=plumbing&gclid=...	google	cpc	plumbing
/?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=Brand&gclid=...	google	cpc	Brand
/?gclid=... with no UTM parameters	google	cpc
/services referred from www.google.com	google	organic
/ referred from www.yellowpages.com.au	www.yellowpages.com.au	referral
/ with no referrer	(direct)	(none)
/?utm_source=newsletter	newsletter	(not set)

Channels

The channel groups source and medium into the same default channel groups Google Analytics 4 uses: Direct, Paid Search, Paid Social, Paid Shopping, Paid Video, Paid Other, Display, Cross-network, Organic Search, Organic Social, Organic Shopping, Organic Video, Referral, Email, Affiliates, Audio, SMS, Mobile Push Notifications and Unassigned. Use the channel to compare paid and organic calls at a glance, and source and medium for detail.

Static numbers

Calls to a static tracking number take their campaign, medium, source and content from the number's settings and show the origin as manual. Use the same source and medium values you use elsewhere so static calls group with the right channel in reports.

Tagging ad URLs

For the cleanest reports:

• Turn on auto-tagging in Google Ads so every click carries a gclid, which is also required for pushing conversions to Google Ads.
• Add utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign to ad URLs on every platform so campaign names appear on calls.
• Check that redirects on the landing page keep the query string. A redirect that drops parameters turns a paid visit into a direct one.