How to set UTM tags

The Yandex Metrica glossary calls attribution a way to distribute the contribution of different sources to a conversion and to the following visits. The tags From, UTM, and Openstat are URL parameters that Metrica handles separately: they are absent from the “URL parameters” report and by default land in special reports. That glossary page does not unpack the five standard names. Why clicks and visits diverge even without tags is covered in why clicks in Direct do not match visits in Metrica.

Which five names, and which are required

Direct’s help calls UTM a tag standard.

• utm_source is the source or platform, a required parameter.

• utm_medium is the type of promotion, required.

• utm_campaign is the campaign name, required.

• utm_content is optional and distinguishes ads.

• utm_term is optional and carries the keyword.

The first parameter is placed after ?, the next ones after &. Metrica’s help adds its own requirements. utm_source is required for social networks and ad systems, except Direct. utm_medium is required for QR, social networks, messengers, mailings, and recommendation systems. If utm_source is from the recommended list and utm_medium is not, then for channels where medium is optional Metrica determines the source from source. The lists of values are codes it recognizes. An unfamiliar code is not turned into a click error.

Values are case-sensitive. The page’s example: utm_source=Vkontakte does not match utm_source=vkontakte. That changes reports and the upload or deletion of campaign expenses. The example is about comparing strings, not a recommendation of a placement.

The first page view and the length of the link

Metrica reads the tag from the first page view of the visit. If the first page view has no tag, it is not counted for the whole visit. Besides UTM, Openstat, and from, the page lists the service tags yclid, ymclid, ysclid, gclid, yqrid, and yzclid. The contents are recognized correctly in UTF-8. This is the first-page-view rule, not an attribution model.

Cyrillic in a Direct link is encoded in UTF-8, and the address grows. If it exceeds 4096 bytes, values are passed only for yclid and openstat. 4096 bytes is the limit on passing tags, not the length of click fraud. UTM past that limit is not promised.

Direct advises Latin letters or transliteration, without capitals, with words separated by _ or -: Cyrillic in the values can get distorted. On a click, utm_source=yandex is sometimes shortened to ya, and that happens for any value that starts with yandex. The shortening is the behavior of some clicks, not a counter error. The help does not promise that replacing the value with ya will repair visits that already passed.

{yclid} in the dynamic-parameter table is the click identifier, passed as a number. {source_type} distinguishes search (search) and networks (context). {source} passes none on Yandex search and the placement’s domain on networks. On search placements of the Yandex Advertising Network either a domain or none may arrive. {source}=none on search is a stock value, not an empty placement.

Which report expects what

Custom parameter names are looked at in “URL parameters”. The UTM standard is looked at in the UTM report. Correct data in the standard report needs all the UTM tags. If only utm_content is missing, the utm_term data appear after the utm_content grouping is removed from the report.

Direct spend in the ROI report is visible to the campaign owner, the owner’s representative, or an agency representative. File data and campaign data do not fill in visits: UTM tags are matched to visits that already have those tags, and Direct campaign data is tied to that campaign. No tag on the visit means spend is not written onto it.

Which clicks and conversions fall in the period depends on the attribution model. The example on the expenses page refers to “Last click from Direct” and “First click”. The models page of 20 May 2026 calls those two disabled, and also “Last significant click” and “Last click from Direct, cross-device”. The current list is not that example.