Traffic channel for link without UTM parameter

[Kapper2606]

Hi Team,

We are running a campaign where we have a link to one of our pages on a partnering website and there have not been used any UTM parameters.

Is the visitors using the link tracked as Direct traffic? We see most of the entry's to the page coming from Direct though it dosent makes sense to type out the specific URL.

[Jennifer_Dungan · Accepted solution]

So you may have to look at how the link is working... If the anchor tag has been coded with rel="noopener noreferrer" then this is a directive to not pass any referral data, which will result in anyone using those links to be treated like Direct Traffic.

Some applications like WordPress add this to links that open in new tabs automatically, you can turn that off if you choose, but that might have other impacts to external links that you might want to have those directives.... if you have the ability, and your users are savvy enough, you could potentially give them the option to add or not add directives like that based on their usage...  Or just make sure to add UTMs to your partner sites links so that proper attribution can be applied if the referral information is being suppressed

[yuhuisg]

Strictly speaking, UTM parameters are meant for Google Analytics, not for Adobe Analytics.

If you want to track your partnering website's links as campaign traffic, then you should track them with your Adobe Analytics campaign tracking method. That will allow you to identify the traffic from your partner accurately.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Strictly speaking, this is incorrect: "UTM parameters are meant for Google Analytics, not for Adobe Analytics" - Just because UTMs were created in the Google infrastructure, doesn't not mean they are exclusive use.

You can use ANY type of campaign designations you choose, so long as you have created the rules for them and follow through... For anyone tracking in both Adobe and GA, using UTMs solely is a much better option (especially if you are using other Google products such as Google Publisher [which promoted content to Google News and Google Showcase with automatic campaign info] and Google Ads which will default to UTM), as then you aren't needing to double campaign everything AND keep those campaigns aligned.

Also, if your marketing team is like mine, keeping parameters as separate query string items is easier for them, especially when you don't have a campaign management tool.

Our primary Analytics is Adobe, and we use UTMs exclusively, and there is nothing wrong or incorrect about that approach... 

If an organization chooses to use UTM parameters, it's a matter of processing those values to pass into the s.campaign string in a structured manner. 

[yuhuisg]

@Jennifer_Dungan I get where you're coming from.

But I read @Kapper2606's original message to imply that he assumes that AA recognises UTM parameters automatically if they're present in the URL, just as GA does.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Okay, I hear you... AA doesn't read them by default, that is true. But then Adobe's CID needs work anyway to process it as per your organization's taxonomy ... either way, configuration needs to be done. (and with Launch, I don't even think that cid comes through automatically... )

But the original post, as I read it is, "UTMs are not being used on the links; and the Referrer Data is coming through as Direct traffic"

Which is a double fold issue...  lack of campaign code (any kind) and likely the use of noopener noreferrer directives.. making it probably impossible to get proper data out of the existing data....

One possible solution for that... if they have access to exit links from the partner site (the values will be inflated due to people closing/cancelling before landing on the page), but it would be something....