This article covers Default channel groups in GA4 properties.
Default channel groups can't be edited in GA4. You have the option to create custom channel groups , which let you create your own rule-based categories of web-traffic sources.
We recently made improvements to default channel grouping for Google Analytics 4 properties. Learn more
Channels are rule-based definitions of your website's traffic sources that let you monitor the performance of all of the channels sending traffic to your website. You can find descriptions and definitions of the channels in the tables below.
You can see the default channels as values for the following dimensions:
| Dimension | Definition | Attribution model | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Default channel group
|
The channels by which users arrived at your site/app and triggered a key event. | Attribution model set for the property . Default is data-driven attribution model |
Event |
|
Session default channel group
|
The channels by which users arrived at your site/app when they initiated new sessions | Paid and organic channels last click | Session |
|
First user default channel group
|
The channels by which users first arrived at your site/app | Paid and organic channels last click | User |
You can see the dimensions listed above in the Acquisition reports, the Advertising section, and if you include them in custom reports.
Default channel descriptions
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| Affiliates | Affiliates is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via links on affiliate sites. |
| Audio | Audio is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via ads on audio platforms (e.g., podcast platforms). |
| Cross-network | Cross-network is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via ads that appear on a variety of networks (e.g., Search and Display). |
| Direct | Direct is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via a saved link or by entering your URL. |
| Display | Display is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via display ads, including ads on the Google Display Network. |
| Email is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via links in email. | |
| Mobile Push Notifications | Mobile Push Notifications is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via links in mobile-device messages when they're not actively using the app. |
| Organic Search | Organic Search is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via non-ad links in organic-search results, including Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode . |
| Organic Shopping | Organic Shopping is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via non-ad links on shopping sites like Amazon or ebay. |
| Organic Social | Organic Social is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via non-ad links on social sites like Facebook or Twitter. |
| Organic Video | Organic Video is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via non-ad links on video sites like YouTube, TikTok, or Vimeo. |
| Paid Other | Paid Other is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via ads, but not through an ad identified as Search, Social, Shopping, or Video. |
| Paid Search | Paid Search is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via ads on search-engine sites like Bing, Baidu, or Google. |
| Paid Shopping | Paid Shopping is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via paid ads on shopping sites like Amazon or ebay or on individual retailer sites. |
| Paid Social | Paid Social is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via ads on social sites like Facebook and Twitter. |
| Paid Video | Paid Video is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via ads on video sites like TikTok, Vimeo, and YouTube. |
| Referral | Referral is the channel by which users arrive at your site via non-ad links on other sites/apps (e.g., blogs, news sites). |
| SMS | SMS is the channel by which users arrive at your site/app via links from text messages. |
Default channel definitions
These definitions reflect Analytics' current view of what constitutes each channel. The following definitions are provided for your reference and may evolve as the market changes.
Channel definitions aren't case sensitive and can't be edited.
Channels for Google Ads traffic
The channels for Google Ads traffic are determined using source platform, ad network type, and campaign type. Ad network type is used to evaluate most of the traffic, while campaign type is specifically used for Paid Shopping only.
For traffic identified with the GBRAID parameter, channels are evaluated using campaign type.
Source platform is "Google Ads"
AND
Google Ads campaign type is "Shopping"
Source platform is "Google Ads"
AND
Google Ads ad network type is one of ("Google Search", "Google Partners")
OR
Google Ads campaign type is one of ("Search", "Hotel", "Travel")
Source platform is "Google Ads"
AND
Google Ads ad network type is one of ("YouTube")
OR
Google Ads campaign type is "Video"
Source platform is "Google Ads"
AND
Google Ads ad network type is one of ("Google Display Network", "Google TV")
OR
Google Ads campaign type is "Display"
Source platform is "Google Ads"
AND
Google Ads ad network type is one of ("Cross-network", "Google owned channels")
Cross-network includes Demand Gen, Performance Max and Smart Shopping.
OR
Google Ads campaign type is one of ("Performance Max", "App", "Smart", "Demand Gen", "Local")
Source platform is "Google Ads"
AND
Google Ads ad network type is one of ("Social")
OR
Google Ads campaign type is "Social"
Channels for Display & Video 360 traffic
Source platform is "DV360"
AND
DV360 creative format is one of (“Standard", "Expandable", "Native site square", "Backdrop", "Templated app install interstitial", "Deprecated","Native app install", "Native app install square", "Native site", "Templated app install", "Lightbox”)
Source platform is "DV360"
AND
DV360 creative format is one of ("Native video", "Video", "Templated app install video", "Flipbook")
Source platform is "DV360"
AND
DV360 creative format is one of ("Audio")
Source platform is "DV360"
AND
DV360 creative format is one of ("Publisher hosted", "Tracking", "Unknown")
Channels for Campaign Manager 360 traffic via Floodlight integration
Source platform is "CM360"
AND
CM360 creative format is one of ("Display redirect", "Custom display", "Custom display interstitial", "Rich Media display banner", "Display", "Internal Redirect", "Interstitial internal redirect", "Flash in-page", "HTML5 Banner", "Rich Media display banner with floating", "Rich Media IM expand", "Rich Media display expanding", "Rich Media mobile in-app", "Rich Media display interstitial", "Rich Media display multi-floating interstitial", "Rich Media peel-down", "Display image gallery", "Image")
Source platform is "CM360"
AND
CM360 creative format is one of ("In-Stream Video", "Streaming Real", "Streaming Windows", "Streaming Flash", "In-Stream Tracking", "Streaming Silverlight", "Video Redirect", "VPAID linear video", "VPAID non-linear video")
Source platform is "CM360"
AND
CM360 creative format is one of ("In-Stream Audio", "Audio Redirect")
Source platform is "CM360"
AND
CM360 creative format is one of ("Tracking", "Tracking Image", "Tracking HTML")
Channels for Search Ads 360 traffic
(The following are channels for non Google Ads traffic; the channels for Google Ads traffic are the same as those listed at the beginning of this table under "Channels for Google Ads traffic")
Source platform is "SA360"
AND
SA360 engine account type is one of ("bing", "yahoo gemini", "yahoo.jp", "baidu", "admarketplace", "naver", "360.cn", "yandex")
Source platform is "SA360"
AND
SA360 engine account type Is one of ("facebook", "twitter")
Channels for Merchant Center traffic
Channels for manual traffic
Source exactly matches "(direct)"
AND
Medium is one of ("(not set)", "(none)")
Campaign Name contains "cross-network"
Cross-network includes Demand Gen, Performance Max and Smart Shopping.
Source matches a list of shopping sites
OR
Campaign Name matches regex ^(.*(([^a-df-z]|^)shop|shopping).*)$
AND
Medium matches regex ^(.*cp.*|ppc|retargeting|paid.*)$
Source matches a list of search sites
AND
Medium matches regex ^(.*cp.*|ppc|retargeting|paid.*)$
Source matches a regex list of social sites
AND
Medium matches regex ^(.*cp.*|ppc|retargeting|paid.*)$
Source matches a list of video sites
AND
Medium matches regex ^(.*cp.*|ppc|retargeting|paid.*)$
Medium is one of (“display”, “banner”, “expandable”, “interstitial”, “cpm”)
Source matches a list of shopping sites
OR
Campaign name matches regex ^(.*(([^a-df-z]|^)shop|shopping).*)$
Source matches a regex list of social sites
OR
Medium is one of (“social”, “social-network”, “social-media”, “sm”, “social network”, “social media”)
Source matches a list of video sites
OR
Medium matches regex ^(.*video.*)$
Source matches a list of search sites listed under "SOURCE_CATEGORY_SEARCH"
OR
Medium exactly matches organic
Medium is one of ("referral", "app", or "link")
Source = email|e-mail|e_mail|e mail
OR
Medium = email|e-mail|e_mail|e mail
Medium = affiliate
Medium exactly matches audio
Source exactly matches sms
OR
Medium exactly matches sms
Medium ends with "push"
OR
Medium contains "mobile" or "notification"
OR
Source exactly matches "firebase"
Unassigned is the value Analytics uses when there are no other channel rules that match the event data.
(other) is the value Analytics uses for an aggregated row due to cardinality limits. Learn more
Editing the default channel group
It's not possible to edit the GA4 default channel group because Google maintains a universal default for all users that can be kept current, accurate, and serve as a reference for the life of every property.
You can edit the primary channel group at any time, which serves as your property's editable default channel group.
Learn How to enable the primary channel group .
Analytics' list of sources and categories
If you would like us to add your search, social, video, or shopping site to the list or if you would like to make a change to your current listing, contact us at googleanalytics-channelgrouprequests@google.com . Google Analytics reviews these requests at least once per year and often more frequently. Inclusion is based on Google’s assessment of a number of factors including but not limited to whether a significant volume of traffic is sourced from a given search engine, social site, or shopping site.
