Google Analytics Audit Test #

65

Healthy Ratio of Other/Unassigned

Why It Matters:

Critical to proper data aggregation and analysis related to traffic attribution.

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 your Google Analytics property has a low and stable percentage of traffic attributed to "Other" or "Unassigned" in default channel grouping and source/medium reports. A high ratio of Other/Unassigned traffic usually indicates:

  • Broken or missing UTM parameters
  • Poorly defined or inconsistent channel groupings
  • Campaign links that strip or override tracking
  • Referrals from sources not mapped in Google Analytics default channel group definitions

Left unaddressed, this leads to attribution blind spots, weak campaign ROI reporting, and unclear marketing performance.

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Google Analytics audit test results.

How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In Google Analytics > Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition, look at:
    • Session default channel group
    • Source / medium
    • Identify the percentage of sessions falling under:
      • "Other" — traffic that doesn’t fit known channels
      • "Unassigned" — traffic where GA4 couldn’t determine the channel at all
      • Healthy ranges:
        • Other: <5–10% of sessions
        • Unassigned: ideally 0–2%
  • Use Explore or BigQuery to break these categories down by:
    • Landing page
    • Campaign
    • Session source/medium
    • Device or region (to catch app/social redirects or iOS blockers)

Automated, Free Audit

Run our Instant Audit to check your ratios instantly.

Too much traffic going to the “Other” bucket? Hire a pro to fix your attribution structure and channel definitions.

How To Fix

  • Audit UTM usage across all marketing links—ensure utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign are always present.
  • In Google Analytics Admin > Data Settings > Channel Groups, create custom channel groupings to classify traffic types like:
    • Influencer
    • SMS
    • Affiliate
    • Partner
  • Fix campaign and traffic tagging inconsistencies across platforms.
  • Avoid UTM medium values that don’t map cleanly to a default Google Analytics channel group (e.g., banner, blast, solo).
  • Clean up redirect chains and ensure query parameters aren’t being stripped.
  • Hire a pro to optimize your channel definitions and attribution hygiene so every session is tracked with intent.

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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