Do I need utm_term in my Master Tracking Code file? (posted: 8/8/2008)

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When creating a master tracking code file you might wonder if you need to use the UTM variable utm_term. This variable is used to pass the search term entered into the search engine that brings up your advertisement. Google Analytics automatically tracks the search terms, so why enter it into file using utm_term? Furthermore, since you can only have one term per row in the Master Tracking file, you need a separate row for each term that you're using; that can add a lot of rows to the file in a hurry! It turns out that omitting utm_term can have negative affects on your CPC data and that can alter your ROI data.

Simply put, using utm_term helps negates the effects of the "broad" functionality that you can use in your Google and Overture campaigns. The best way to explain this is through an example.

Let's say you purchased the key word "ski" in Google AdWords and selected to use the "Broad matching" option. This means that searches for the term "skis" will also pull up your ad associated with the term "ski". When a user clicks on the link the key word that was searched for, in this case the term "skis", is reported to Urchin via the UTM. However, when Google reports your CPC data they report a charge against the term "ski". This causes a discrepancy in the data. Your UTM reports a search for the term "skis" while your CPC data from Google reports a search for the term "ski". This discrepancy can throw off your CPC data and ultimately your ROI data.

This is where utm_term comes in. By tagging your Campaigns with the actual search term you've purchased the UTM will report the search term associated with your CPC campaign and not the term that was actually searched for. Returning to our example, if you attach utm_term=ski to the link in your ad the UTM will report a search for "ski" even though the user searched for "skis". Then when Google reports the financial data for your campaign the CPC data will match the information reported from the UTM.