Why does this tool show non-standard utm_ parameters separately?

The five standard parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, utm_content) are what Google Analytics and most other platforms read by default, but some platforms and CMSes add their own extensions - utm_id for campaign ID tracking, or vendor-specific variants - that follow the same utm_ naming convention without being one of the five standard ones. This tool surfaces those too instead of silently ignoring them.

What counts as an "other" (non-UTM) parameter?

Any query parameter on the URL whose key doesn't start with utm_ - things like a referral code, an affiliate ID, a session token, or an internal ref parameter. These are listed separately so you can see the full picture of what's being tracked on a link, not just the UTM portion.

Is there a formal specification for the utm_ parameter format?

No. UTM tagging is a de facto convention that started with Urchin (the analytics company Google acquired to build Google Analytics), not an internet standard like a URL scheme or MIME type. It's just five agreed-upon query parameter names that happen to be recognized broadly across analytics platforms because Google Analytics popularized them.

Why does the base URL strip the query string entirely instead of just the UTM params?

It's meant to answer "what page does this actually point to, independent of tracking" - stripping only the UTM params but leaving other query parameters (like a product ID or a filter) would still be tied to campaign-specific behavior in some cases, so a fully clean base URL is the more useful reference point.

UTM Parser - Extract Campaign Parameters from a URL

Overview

Introduction

A link that's been shared, shortened, or forwarded through several tools can end up with a long, unreadable query string. It's not always obvious which parameters are UTM tracking, which are something else, and what the actual destination page is underneath it all.

This tool parses a pasted URL and separates that out clearly: the standard UTM fields, any non-standard utm_ parameters, everything else, and the bare base URL.

What Is UTM Parser?

A URL parser focused specifically on campaign tracking parameters. It reads every query parameter on a URL, buckets each one as either a utm_* parameter or something else, and pulls out the base URL with the entire query string removed.

It doesn't limit itself to the five standard UTM fields; any parameter key starting with utm_ is captured, since real-world URLs sometimes carry platform-specific variants beyond the standard set.

How UTM Parser Works

The pasted string is parsed with the browser's native URL constructor, which throws on malformed input, giving a clear error rather than a silent partial parse.

Its query parameters are read via URLSearchParams.entries() and split into two buckets by checking whether each key starts with utm_ (case-insensitively), then the five standard fields are pulled out by exact key match for the labeled summary view.

When To Use UTM Parser

When you've received a tracking link (from a report, a shared doc, or a colleague) and want to quickly see what campaign it's tagged with without manually reading a long query string.

While auditing whether links generated by a marketing tool or CMS plugin are tagging campaigns consistently, by pasting a sample of them one at a time.

Often used alongside UTM Builder.

Features

Advantages

Surfaces non-standard utm_ parameters (like utm_id) that a tool only checking the five standard fields would silently miss.
Separates UTM parameters from unrelated query parameters, so you can see the full tracking picture on a link rather than just the UTM slice of it.
Clearly labels a missing standard field as "not found" rather than leaving it blank, so an incompletely tagged link is obvious at a glance.

Limitations

It only inspects the URL string itself; if a link is shortened (bit.ly, a redirect service), the UTM parameters live on the destination URL after redirect, not on the short link you'd paste in here.
Parameter values are shown exactly as decoded from the URL; it doesn't validate that a utm_source or utm_medium value matches any particular naming convention your team uses.

Examples

A standard-tagged link with one extra parameter

Input

https://example.com/landing-page?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring-sale&ref=partner-42

Output

utm_source: newsletter
utm_medium: email
utm_campaign: spring-sale
utm_term: Not found
utm_content: Not found
Other params: ref=partner-42
Base URL: https://example.com/landing-page

A link with a non-standard UTM extension

Input

https://example.com/promo?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=fall&utm_id=21987436

Output

utm_source: google
utm_medium: cpc
utm_campaign: fall
Non-standard UTM parameters: utm_id=21987436

utm_id isn't one of the five standard fields but still follows the utm_ convention, so it's surfaced separately rather than dropped.

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

Check parsed links after any redirect or link-shortening step in a campaign's pipeline, since a misconfigured redirect can silently drop query parameters.
When auditing a batch of links, look for inconsistent capitalization or spelling in utm_source/utm_medium values across otherwise-identical campaigns, since those get counted as separate values in analytics.

Developer Notes

parseUtmUrl() buckets every query parameter by checking key.toLowerCase().startsWith('utm_') rather than hardcoding the five standard names, so it naturally captures non-standard extensions like utm_id without special-casing them.

UTM Parser Use Cases

Auditing a marketing tool's or CMS's auto-generated links for consistent UTM tagging
Decoding a long, hard-to-read tracking URL received from a colleague or report to see what campaign it's tied to
Confirming a link-shortening or redirect step in a campaign pipeline preserved its UTM parameters

Common Mistakes

Assuming a URL has no UTM tagging just because it looks short, when parameters can be present but visually easy to miss in a long query string.
Overlooking non-standard utm_ parameters (like utm_id) because a quick manual read only checks for the five familiar names.

Tips

Paste the final destination URL, not a shortened link, since UTM parameters travel with the actual URL, not the shortener's redirect address.

UTM Parser