You got the problem...
A client of mine once ran several campaigns with unique utm_campaign values. Everything seemed correct until we opened GA4 - and saw mismatched or missing campaign names.
Examples included:
• Sessions categorized under “(not set)”
• Traffic mapped to outdated campaigns
• UTMs that never showed up in reports at all
Users did click the links. They did convert. GA4 simply didn’t capture the attribution.
Why UTMs fail to survive:
• Mobile apps often strip referrer and parameters
• Redirect chains can drop query strings
• Slow-loading pages or reloads break the session
• Browser tracking limitations cause partial loss of metadata
The impact:
• Revenue could attributed incorrectly
• Campaign effectiveness appears weaker than it is
• Decisions based on GA4 alone become risky
• Growth opportunities are missed due to misleading signals
A more reliable workflow involves:
• Testing UTM behavior in DebugView under real conditions
• Using BigQuery to compare traffic_source fields and captured UTMs
• Tracking where breakdowns occur - redirects, browsers, apps
• Implementing server-side logging or click tracking for important campaigns
• Introducing server-side tracking to reduce dependency on the browser
GA4 is valuable, but it is not infallible. Treating its reports as flawless leads to misinterpretation of campaigns that are actually performing well.
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