4 ms·

gmail presumably doesn't need to use a tracking pixel to determine if someone opened an email in the gmail interface...

• abestic9 6y ago
  But if I’m using IMAP I’m downloading all messages and potentially interacting with all, some or none of them.
• eli 6y ago
  But as a newsletter publisher they don't share that information with me. If I don't track it myself, eventually my engagement metrics will fall below a certain (undisclosed) level and everything goes to the spam folder.
  • cwhiz 6y ago
    That is surprising, and unfortunate. I believe this will ultimately have to change. The percentage of people blocking remote content will only go up. I block ALL remote content in my emails, and there is nothing that will convince me to stop doing that.
    • eli 6y ago
      Can you imagine the comment threads if google was secretly sharing inbox engagement data with marketers? Anyway, it's been like this for years and the overwhelming majority of email clients load images by default so everyone mostly works around it. I don't think it's changing any time soon.
      • cwhiz 6y ago
        All it would take is a single default configuration change by Apple, Microsoft, or Google. It is not crazy at all to think that Apple would change the default setting to block loading remote content.
        • eli 6y ago
          Most people want images in their email to work
          • cwhiz 6y ago
            It's as easy as doing it the exact same way Hey does. "We blocked external trackers in this email, click here to learn more."
            • anewone 6y ago
              I'm curious how they're doing it. Without having used their product, I gather that they're blocking certain known trackers and/or checking for tracking pixels directly. But it's not hard to put a unique tracking link on any arbitrary image which is part of the email's content. The only full defense is turning off all images. edit: apparently they automatically cache the images on delivery, which should work. This is really a change that needs to come from the mail providers so good on them. As long as they don't try and assume what the user is interested in like Gmail does, they can drop tracking all they want.
              • eli 6y ago
                That is going to lead to it appearing that people have high email engagement which will cause them to be on more mailing lists and at higher frequency than they otherwise would be.
          • kijiki 6y ago
            Inline images. Faster loading, and will still work when I look at the email years later when all the img links have rotted.
            • eli 6y ago
              In a lot of instances you get penalized for large messages. Email marketing is a tough business.
• anewone 6y ago
  They don't, but they also don't share that information with the sender. Gmail wants senders to be proactive and auto-unsubscribe disengaged recipients, which requires tracking open/click rates.