Google Analytics Audit Test #

27

Affiliate Attribution for All 'irclickid'

Why It Matters:

Critical to understanding where your traffic is coming from and assigning appropriate credit.

Industries:

All

Checks For:

Accuracy

How accurate is your recent data?

Insight Category:

Attribution

Can you tell which marketing efforts are working?

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Background

A GA4 audit is essential for uncovering missing insights—key data points that organizations don't yet know and can act upon. A well-done audit evaluates both behavioral tracking and traffic attribution, ensuring each is accurate and useful. It also assesses whether the data collected truly supports business decisions and reporting.

Test Detail

This test checks whether traffic with the affiliate click ID parameter irclickid (used by Impact.com and other affiliate networks) is properly attributed in GA4.

If GA4 doesn't recognize and classify these sessions as affiliate traffic, they may instead show up as:

  • Direct, Referral, or Unassigned
  • Misattributed to incorrect sources (e.g., intermediate redirect domains)
  • Disconnected from conversion paths and ROAS reporting

Failure to attribute affiliate traffic correctly can lead to underreporting of partner performance, missed commission payments, and poor channel optimization.

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How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In GA4 > Explore, create a Free-form report:
    • Dimensions: Landing page + query string, Session source/medium, Default channel group
    • Filter for landing pages containing irclickid=
    • Review whether these sessions show up as affiliate / cpc or in the Affiliate channel group

Advanced QA

  • In BigQuery, run the below query:
    SELECT session_source, session_medium, page_location
    FROM `your_dataset.events_*`
    WHERE page_location LIKE '%irclickid%'
    ORDER BY session_source, session_medium;
  • If irclickid traffic shows up as "direct," "referral," or “(not set)”—that’s a misattribution.

Automated, Free Audit

Want to detect this issue in seconds? Run our Instant Audit

Or hire a pro to ensure accurate affiliate tracking in GA4.

How To Fix

  • Ensure all affiliate URLs are manually tagged with UTM parameters:
    • utm_source=impact
    • utm_medium=affiliate
    • utm_campaign=partner_name
  • In GA4, create a Custom Channel Grouping rule:
  • If page_location contains irclickid=, or source / medium = impact / affiliate, assign to Affiliate channel
  • Make sure redirects preserve UTM parameters or irclickid
  • For enhanced attribution, store the irclickid in a first-party cookie or local storage and associate it with conversions in your backend
  • Hire a pro to fix and future-proof your affiliate tracking—so your partners get the credit they deserve and your reporting reflects real performance.

Tips from a Google Analytics Consultant

Focus on Insights

Every Google Analytics audit should result in a plan for more insights.

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An insight is:

  • something you don't know
  • and can act on to improve performance

The Goal

Identify and remove insight blockers. Don't get tempted to track things you can't act on!

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