What utm_medium should I use for YouTube links?

Use video for unpaid links, from your channel or a creator's, and GA4 files the visit under Organic Video. If you hand-tag a paid placement on a video site, use a paid medium such as cpc instead, which GA4 reads as Paid Video.

Why do my YouTube ad sales show up as Cross-network in GA4?

Because of the campaign type, not the placement. GA4 files Demand Gen and Performance Max traffic under Cross-network, even when the ad ran on YouTube. Only Video campaigns and clicks from the YouTube ad network go to Paid Video.

How long after a YouTube ad can a sale still count?

In Google Ads, for as long as the engaged-view conversion window you set, anywhere from 1 to 30 days or a custom number. Left alone, the window is 3 days. Changes only apply to conversions from the day you make them, not to past ones.

How to track YouTube video sales in GA4, step by step

Give every video its own tagged link with utm_source=youtube and utm_medium=video. Point Shorts at a long video that carries the link, and link Google Ads to GA4 for ads. Then read GA4's video rows and Shopify's sales channel report.

By Joris van Huët, Founder & CEOUpdated 2026-10-018 min read

To track YouTube video sales in GA4, you usually tag every description link with utm_source=youtube and utm_medium=video, one campaign per video. Link Google Ads to GA4 if you run YouTube ads. Then read the Organic Video and Paid Video rows, and check Shopify for orders placed inside YouTube.

Step by step

Pick one naming scheme before the next upload. Use utm_source=youtube and utm_medium=video on every unpaid YouTube link. GA4 files a visit under Organic Video when the source is a known video site or the medium contains video. Name the video in utm_campaign and the spot in utm_content, such as description or endscreen. Path: GA4 help, Default channel group, Channels for manual traffic.
Build the link in lowercase. For example: https://yourstore.com/products/night-serum?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=night-serum-review&utm_content=description. GA4's channel rules ignore case, but its source rows don't: youtube and YouTube become two rows. Path: GA4 help, URL builders, Manual set up.
Paste the link into the description. In YouTube Studio, select Content in the left menu and click the video's title or thumbnail. Add the link under Description and select Save. Links in long-form descriptions only click once your channel has access to advanced features. Path: YouTube Studio > Content > video > Description > Save.
Add an end screen link. This needs the YouTube Partner Program. Open the video, select Editor in the left menu, then End screen, then Link. Paste the same link with utm_content=endscreen. The video must be at least 25 seconds long. Path: YouTube Studio > Content > video > Editor > End screen > Link.
Point every Short at a long video. YouTube makes URLs in Shorts descriptions and comments non-clickable. So set the Short's Related Video to the long video that carries your tagged link, which also needs advanced features. Path: YouTube Studio > Content > the Short > Related Video > Save.
Connect your store to YouTube Shopping, if you qualify. Shopify lists 1,000 subscribers and monetization approval among the requirements. In YouTube Studio, click Monetization > Shopping, then Connect store, and select Shopify. Then, in Shopify, go to Sales channels > Google & YouTube and click Get started under YouTube Shopping. Path: YouTube Studio > Monetization > Shopping > Connect store.
Link Google Ads to GA4 for your YouTube ads. In GA4, go to Admin, click Google Ads links under Product links, then Link. Choose the account, keep auto-tagging on and click Submit. Google Ads data reaches GA4 reports within 48 hours. Path: Admin > Product links > Google Ads links > Link.
Set the engaged-view window on purpose. In Google Ads, click the Goals icon, open the Conversions drop-down and select Summary. Find your purchase action, select Edit settings and open Engaged-view conversion window. Pick a custom number of days or anything from 1 to 30 days. If you never customise it, Google's default is 3 days. Path: Goals > Conversions > Summary > Edit settings.
Read the video rows in GA4. Go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition. Organic Video and Paid Video sit under Session default channel group, the report's default dimension. Switch the drop-down to Session campaign to give each video its own row. Path: Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
Compare description, end screen and creator links. In Reports, click Acquisition > Overview, then View Manual campaigns on the Sessions by Session manual source card. Change the dimension to Session manual ad content, which GA4 fills from utm_content. For creator deals, follow how to track influencer sales, step by step. Path: Acquisition > Overview > View Manual campaigns.
Look for YouTube early on your purchase paths. Click Advertising, then Key event attribution paths under the Key events dropdown, and select purchase. A YouTube engaged view can be a touchpoint, so check whether YouTube opens paths that other channels close. Path: Advertising > Key events > Key event attribution paths.
Split Google Ads YouTube conversions by event type. In Google Ads, open your campaign table and click Segment, then Conversions, then Ad event type. Engaged-view conversions then sit apart from click conversions. Path: Campaigns > Segment > Conversions > Ad event type.
Count orders placed inside YouTube. In Shopify, go to Analytics > Reports, set the Category filter to Sales and open Total sales by sales channel. The Sales channel column names the channel or app behind each order. In-app checkout runs only in the United States, and those buyers never load your store. Path: Analytics > Reports > Sales > Total sales by sales channel.

A worked example

For illustration, say you post a ten-minute review of your night serum, with a tagged description link and a tagged end screen link. Say a Short from the same shoot points to the review as its related video.

Two days later, say the Session campaign row for night-serum-review shows €400 in purchase revenue. Don't stop there.

One store's Journeys sheet shows why: journeys with 2 to 3 touches took 12.5 days to buy. A two-day read on that kind of lag is a first glance, not a verdict.

Say the same row reads €1,100 at day 14. Say the Session manual ad content view splits it into €950 from the description and €150 from the end screen. So the description link earns its place on every upload, and the end screen is a bonus.

Now look past the tags. Say the Direct row for the 14 days after the review shows €700 more than for the 14 days before. If the review caused that bump, it brought in about €1,800 in all, not €1,100.

Check what else ran that fortnight before you believe it. An email, a sale or a payday weekend can move Direct too.

In this worked example, €1,100 is the floor and €1,800 the ceiling. Plan the next video's budget on the floor, and treat the ceiling as a question for a cleaner test.

What should I check when the YouTube numbers look wrong?

Your test click lands in Direct. Something stripped the tags. GA4's help notes that redirects can strip UTM parameters and URL shorteners can drop referral details, so paste the full link.
Paid Video is empty while your ads run. Check the campaign type first. GA4 puts Demand Gen and Performance Max under Cross-network, even when the ad ran on YouTube.
Your hand-made tags vanish from YouTube ads. In GA4, auto-tagging wins over manual tagging and can't be overridden. Let the Google Ads link name those campaigns.
Google Ads shows more YouTube sales than GA4. Run the Ad event type split first. Engaged-view conversions count viewers who never clicked, so compare GA4 with the click conversions only.
Shopify sessions from YouTube jumped or dipped in late September. Shopify changed how it measures sessions from 21 to 23 September 2026. Orders and sales were not affected, so check those before you blame the video.
A YouTube Shopping order is missing from Shopify's marketing reports. Those reports summarise Online Store channel orders. Read it in Total sales by sales channel instead.

What to do this week

Test one tagged link end to end. Open it in a private browser window and read the address bar on the landing page. Pass: utm_source=youtube and the other tags are still there. Fail: they vanished, so drop the shortener or redirect and link straight to the page.
Check your engaged-view window. In Google Ads, go to Goals > Conversions > Summary, open your purchase action and select Edit settings. Pass: someone chose the window to fit how long your buyers take. Fail: nobody knows why it is set as it is, so pick one now, knowing changes only apply from that day on.
Compare one YouTube campaign in both tools. Take last month's Paid Video revenue in GA4. Then take the same campaign's conversion value in Google Ads, split by Ad event type. Pass: the gap is mostly engaged-view conversions. Fail: a big gap remains among click conversions, so recheck the Google Ads link and auto-tagging.

Check the homework. Your GA4 Attribution paths export already holds the evidence. Causality Engine reads that one file and shows what each channel caused next to what last-click gave it, in 1 to 2 minutes, for €99 once (excluding VAT), refundable within 30 days. Check the homework

Sources, 1 October 2026: Default channel group (Google); URL builders: Collect campaign data with custom URLs (Google); Edit video settings (YouTube); Sharing links with your audiences (YouTube); Add end screens to videos (YouTube); YouTube Shopping (Shopify); Connect Google Ads to Google Analytics (Google); About auto-tagging (Google); About conversion windows (Google); Traffic acquisition report (Google); Manual report (Google); Key events attribution paths report (Google); About YouTube ads and view metrics (Google); Use segments in your tables (Google); Sales reports (Shopify); Understand (direct) / (none) traffic (Google); Traffic-source dimensions, manual tagging, and auto-tagging (Google); Marketing reports (Shopify); Changes to sessions and conversion rate in Shopify Analytics (Shopify)

Frequently asked questions

What utm_medium should I use for YouTube links?
Use video for unpaid links, from your channel or a creator's, and GA4 files the visit under Organic Video. If you hand-tag a paid placement on a video site, use a paid medium such as cpc instead, which GA4 reads as Paid Video.
Why do my YouTube ad sales show up as Cross-network in GA4?
Because of the campaign type, not the placement. GA4 files Demand Gen and Performance Max traffic under Cross-network, even when the ad ran on YouTube. Only Video campaigns and clicks from the YouTube ad network go to Paid Video.
How long after a YouTube ad can a sale still count?
In Google Ads, for as long as the engaged-view conversion window you set, anywhere from 1 to 30 days or a custom number. Left alone, the window is 3 days. Changes only apply to conversions from the day you make them, not to past ones.

Go deeper: Causal attribution, explained.

Sixty-second versions of these ideas: Causality Engine on YouTube Shorts.

Keep reading

Terms in this article

Browse the full glossary