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First User Source

First User Source is the source of a user's first visit in GA4. It does not change even if the return visit path changes afterward, and is used to analyze new user acquisition channels.

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GA4 clearly distinguishes between the user acquisition dimension based on the first session and the traffic acquisition dimension based on each session. First user source is a user acquisition dimension that records the source when a new user first visits and does not change even if the return visit path changes.

Source indicates the traffic source, and medium indicates the traffic medium (organic, cpc, referral, etc.). The ‘Source/Medium’ combination of the two becomes the basis for channel group classification. When UTM tagging, the utm_source parameter is recorded as the first user source.

GA4 screen path: Reports > Acquisition > User Acquisition In the report, change the default dimension to 'First user source' to confirm. You can also add it as a dimension in Explore.

Key takeaways

  • The source of the user's first visit is recorded and does not change on subsequent visits.
  • If there is no utm_source parameter value, it is determined by Referrer or automatic detection.
  • It is used for user acquisition analysis along with First user medium and First user campaign.
  • Unlike session source, this is aggregation based on initial inflow.

References

Frequently asked questions

What is the situation when the first user source is set to '(direct)'?

It is counted as (direct) when a URL is entered directly, accessed through a bookmark, opened in an app, or when there is no UTM tagging and no Referrer information. By adding UTM parameters to email and Kakao sharing links, you can record the exact source.

What is the difference between first user source and session source?

The first user source is fixed to the origin from the person's first visit, and the session source records the origin of that session for each visit. If the same user first visited from Naver and then from Google, the first user source is Naver, and the session source for the return visit is Google.

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