Open rate tracking
Open rate tracking is no longer available for emails and newsletters because of concerns about email deliverability and its reliability as a metric.
Email providers such as Gmail have made changes so emails containing tracking pixels are more likely to be flagged as spam. Therefore, Alida has disabled open rate tracking as a necessary measure to maintain email deliverability.
What's more, the reliability of open rate as a standalone metric is
declining because of advancements in email client technology and
privacy-focused features. For example:
- Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP): When MPP is enabled on an Apple device (which syncs with Gmail), it preloads all images in emails automatically regardless of whether someone has opened the email. This artificially inflates open rates, making them unreliable for users on Apple devices.
- Image blocking: Many email clients, including Gmail, block images by default. If a user doesn't enable images, the tracking pixel won't load and the open won't be recorded, even if the user reads the entire text of the email. This leads to an underestimation of the true open rate.
- Bots and security scans: Many corporate and institutional email systems use security software that automatically scans and opens emails in a sandbox environment to check for malicious content. These automated opens can artificially inflate open rates.
Alida is exploring possible solutions that will comply with industry-wide standards while still giving customers valuable, accurate insight into the effectiveness of their email communications with community members. In the meantime, if you have any questions, concerns, or feedback regarding this change, please contact Alida.