Email Reporting FAQ

Open rates today are tracked using a small invisible image pixel that loads when the recipient opens the email. That method is standard across the industry, but it does come with a few caveats like Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and similar privacy technologies, email inbox and spam checking technology, preview panes, and other email clients can inflate open numbers artificially. With AI tools changing quickly and email providers changing their technology to keep up with privacy concerns and spam engagement reporting is an ever changing and moving target.

In email marketing, click bots refer to an automated program, often used by security systems or email
providers, that clicks on links within email to check for malicious content or spam, before delivering the
email into the recipient’s inbox. They are designed to simulate human clicks on email links, but they are
not performed by actual users.

Are Click Bots bad?
Not all click bots are bad! They typically exist because email providers and security software want to
make sure that the content that lands in your inbox is safe and valid. They are looking for potential
threats like phishing attempts or malware before the email lands in a user’s inbox.

How can I tell if this is affecting my email campaigns?
Track engagement patterns. Be on the lookout for unusually high or instant opens and clicks. If you see a
sudden spike in clicks or your campaign is performing better than normal, it could be due to bot activity.

Is this only affecting the emails we send?
No, this affects ALL emails that are sent, no matter the ESP or the sender, though some types of mailings
may see higher activity than others.

Can we suppress Click Bot activity?
Yes, we already suppress click bot activity based on several reasons. (Remember that
no vendor has the perfect filter. email security providers are constantly changing and improving their
security.)

If you are suppressing Click Bot activity, why do I still see occasional spikes in my reports?
No vendor has the perfect filter and email security providers are constantly changing and improving their
security. Algorithms are used to identify this activity, but as security providers improve their strategy, it
can make their activity appear more human-like, which could look like a real click.

Why do my GA4 reports differ from my email reports?
Your email reports suppress many clicks due to click bot activity, however that click will still
drive activity to the website. You can look at your GA4 reports to see time on site as the action resulting
from a click bot will bounce from the website very quickly. GA4 also has settings that allow you to
exclude hits from known bots. GA4 has different filtering and bot activity algorithms which will result in a different set of reported metrics.

Additional steps we take to help lower the Click Bot activity.
Some click bot activity will always exist because of increasing click (Security) bots. We use email sending best practices to deliver our customers the best and most reliable of results possible with today's digital technology. This includes list hygiene and including engagement criteria when preparing email circulations.

How can customers get a clearer picture of ROI and performance?
While email platforms provide an initial layer of engagement data, website metrics give a clearer picture of actual user behavior. Review post-click website interactions, such as user-journey metrics, time on site and KPI behavior, for a more accurate measure of campaign success.

Why our email performance may be lower than a competitor’s.
Not all email platforms filter out click-bots automatically or filter them out the same way. This can inflate
click rates and create misleading performance data.
We proactively monitor and filter out bot activity to provide advertisers with a more
accurate representation of engagement. We encourage customers to focus on post-click engagement to get a clearer picture of campaign performance beyond just click volume.