GA4 and Link Analytics

GA4 and URL shortener analytics do not compete — they measure different moments in the visitor journey. Understanding what each does independently is the prerequisite for using both effectively together.

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Two Measurement Systems, Two Moments

The Connection: UTM Parameters

The bridge between URL shortener analytics and GA4 is UTM parameters on the destination URL of the short link. When a short link's destination includes UTM tags, GA4 reads them on arrival and attributes the session to the specified source, medium and campaign — even when no referrer header is present.

The workflow:

1. Build destination URL with UTM parameters: yourdomain.com/page?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring-sale
2. Create short link in Cuttly using the full UTM-tagged destination URL
3. Distribute the clean branded short link in the email campaign
4. Cuttly records each click with device, country, referrer and timing
5. GA4 receives the UTM values on arrival and attributes the session to newsletter / email / spring-sale

Result: Cuttly shows how many people engaged with the link (and from which devices); GA4 shows what those people did after arriving (and whether they converted).

Why Click Counts Differ Between Cuttly and GA4

Click count discrepancies between Cuttly and GA4 are normal and expected. The Cuttly count is always higher. Reasons:

• Bot and security scanner clicks. Cuttly records all HTTP requests including automated clicks from email security scanners, social platform preview crawlers and web bots. GA4 requires JavaScript execution — bots that do not execute JS are not counted. This is typically the largest source of discrepancy for email campaigns.
• Ad blockers and tracking blockers. Extensions that block GA4's tracking script prevent session recording in GA4 while having no effect on Cuttly's server-side redirect tracking. Prevalence of ad blockers varies significantly by audience — technical and privacy-conscious audiences may have 20–40% ad blocker rates.
• Destination page load failures. If the destination page fails to load after the redirect (server error, slow connection timeout, user navigating away before the page loads), Cuttly records the click but GA4 does not record the session.
• Cookie consent rejection. Visitors who reject GA4 tracking cookies are not recorded in GA4. Cuttly's server-side tracking is not affected by cookie consent decisions.
• JavaScript disabled. A small percentage of visitors have JavaScript disabled — GA4 does not fire; Cuttly tracks the click normally.

As a rough guide: for email campaigns, expect Cuttly clicks to be 15–40% higher than GA4 sessions attributed to the same campaign, primarily due to security scanner clicks. Using Cuttly's bot click filtering (Single plan) reduces this gap by removing identified automated clicks from the Cuttly count.

What Each System Answers

• "How many people engaged with this link?" → Cuttly unique clicks (with bot filtering)
• "Which device did they use?" → Cuttly device breakdown
• "Which country are they in?" → Cuttly country analytics
• "Which channel drove the most clicks?" → Cuttly referrer breakdown + campaign tag analytics
• "Did they convert after clicking?" → GA4 with UTM attribution
• "How long did they stay on the page?" → GA4 session duration
• "Which pages did they visit after arriving?" → GA4 user journey
• "What revenue did this campaign generate?" → GA4 e-commerce reporting with UTM attribution

Channels Where Cuttly Adds Data GA4 Cannot See

Three high-volume marketing channels produce no referrer data — meaning GA4 cannot attribute their traffic without UTM parameters, and even with UTM parameters cannot break them out by device or timing independently:

• Email. Native email apps strip referrer headers. GA4 sees email clicks as direct traffic without UTM tags. With UTM tags, GA4 can attribute the session — but Cuttly additionally provides device breakdown and click timing that GA4 cannot derive from UTM values alone.
• SMS. No referrer whatsoever. Without UTM tags, GA4 has no way to identify SMS-driven traffic at all. Cuttly records every SMS link click with full analytics regardless of UTM tagging.
• QR Codes. Scans produce no referrer. Cuttly records every QR scan as a click. GA4 requires UTM tags on the destination URL to attribute QR traffic — without them, QR scans are indistinguishable from direct traffic in GA4.

Related Terms

• UTM Parameters
• Conversion Tracking
• Bot Click Detection
• Traffic Sources
• Multi-Channel Attribution
• Click Tracking