About Channel Groupings
Channel Groupings are rule-based groupings of your traffic sources. Throughout Analytics reports, you can see your data organized according to the Default Channel Grouping, a grouping of the most common sources of traffic, like Paid Search and Direct. This allows you to quickly check the performance of each of your traffic channels.
Default channel groupings are defined by Analytics from the start, but these can be modified to suit your preferences. New channel groupings can also be created, but the default configurations tend to suit most businesses just fine.
Default Channel Groupings
The default system channel definitions reflect Analytics' current view of what constitutes each channel in the Default Channel Grouping. While these definitions may evolve as the market evolves, we provide the current definitions here for your information.
Direct
Most commonly, Direct traffic will come from users who reach your page by typing your URL directly into their browser or saved your link as a bookmark. By definition, traffic is classified as Direct when the Source exactly matches direct AND Medium exactly matches (not set) OR Medium exactly matches (none)
Organic
Organic traffic typically comes from users who reach your page through search engine results. By definition, traffic is classified as Organic when the Search Medium exactly matches organic.
Social
Social traffic comes from users who reach your page by clicking a link somewhere within a prominent social media site like Facebook or Instagram. By definition, traffic is classified as Social when the Source Referral exactly matches Yes OR Medium matches regex ^(social|social-network|social-media|sm|social network|social media)$.
Email traffic comes from users who reach your page by clicking a link somewhere within a marketing email. By definition, traffic is classified as Email when the Medium exactly matches email.
Referral
Referral traffic comes from users who reach your page by clicking a link somewhere within another website. This would not include other websites already defined within another grouping, like traffic already classified as Social, or Organic. By definition, traffic is classified as Referral when the Medium exactly matches referral
(unavailable) or (other)
By definition, traffic is classified as (unavailable) or (other) when the Sessions don't match any channel description.
Other Notable Channel Groupings
Affiliates: By definition, traffic is classified as Affiliates when the Medium exactly matches affiliate.
Paid Search: By definition, traffic is classified as Paid Search when the Medium matches regex ^(cpc|ppc|paidsearch)$ AND Ad Distribution Network does not exactly match Content.
Other Advertising: By definition, traffic is classified as Other Advertising when the Medium matches regex ^(cpv|cpa|cpp|content-text)$.
Display: By definition, traffic is classified as Display when the Medium matches regex ^(display|cpm|banner)$ OR Ad Distribution Network exactly matches Content.