Understanding the Issue

A community member asked about resolving duplicate UTM parameters in Journey Builder sends with both Google Analytics (GA) and Web Analytics Connector (WAC) enabled in setup.

When WAC is enabled, it appends UTM parameters to all sends, including those from Journey Builder. This can cause issues when GA is also enabled, as it can result in duplicate UTM parameters.

Root Cause

The root cause of this issue is the duplication of UTM parameters by both WAC and GA. Since WAC appends UTM parameters to all sends, it is not necessary to have GA also appending these parameters.

Resolving the Issue

To resolve this issue, teams can either disable WAC or strip the added UTM parameters in the content itself. Disabling WAC will prevent it from appending UTM parameters to all sends, while stripping the added UTM parameters will remove the duplicates.

Alternatively, teams can also consider turning off the GA functionality in Journey Builder, as GA will still pick up the UTM parameters appended by WAC.

Implementation

To implement this solution, teams can follow these steps:

Journey Builder Send Code

/* Remove duplicate UTM parameters */
var url = "https://example.com?utm_source=source&utm_medium=medium";
var params = url.split("?")[1].split("&");
var uniqueParams = [];
for (var i = 0; i < params.length; i++) {
    var param = params[i].split("=")[0];
    if (uniqueParams.indexOf(param) == -1) {
        uniqueParams.push(param);
    }
}
var newUrl = "https://example.com?" + uniqueParams.join("&");

Checklist

• Disable WAC to prevent it from appending UTM parameters to all sends
• Strip the added UTM parameters in the content itself to remove duplicates
• Turn off the GA functionality in Journey Builder to prevent duplicate UTM parameters
• Verify that GA is picking up the UTM parameters appended by WAC
• Test the solution to ensure that it is working as expected

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the root cause of the duplicate UTM parameters issue?

The root cause is the duplication of UTM parameters by both WAC and GA.

How can I resolve the duplicate UTM parameters issue?

You can either disable WAC, strip the added UTM parameters in the content itself, or turn off the GA functionality in Journey Builder.

Will disabling WAC affect my email sends outside of Journey Builder?

Yes, disabling WAC will prevent it from appending UTM parameters to all sends, including those outside of Journey Builder.

Can I still use GA to track my email sends if I disable WAC?

Yes, GA will still pick up the UTM parameters appended by WAC, even if WAC is disabled.