How are opened emails tracked?

Tracking of opened emails is done using an embedded tracking image. When the image is loaded, the opening of an email can be tracked. Because of this, the image needs to be loaded, and the tracking of opened emails depends on the behavior of the email client used by the user.

Some email clients, like the email client in iOS devices like iPhones, load images when viewed in the email client. Other clients, like Microsoft Outlook, don’t load images by default, even when the email is viewed. Images are loaded when the user manually chooses to load images or if you set the sender to a trusted sender where images can be automatically loaded.

Notice that if a user replies to an email, clicks a link, or posts a form, the email will be considered opened regardless if the tracking image has been loaded or not.

Important information about spam and anti-virus filters

Some spam and anti-virus filters analyze links in each email by accessing the link and analyzing the website to ensure that the website is secure. Since the link is unique in each email, this results in that each link will be considered as clicked. We recommend you look into the impact of your security functions and if possible, add exceptions for the sender of the assessment so that the statistics are not affected.

Add an exception based on:

• The sender's email address (you will find the sender's email address in Security Center).
• The sender's network (see article here).

Is automatic loading of images good or bad?

As mentioned, some clients load images automatically, making them automatically load the tracking image. It's possible to implement a policy to load images automatically in Outlook. Holm Security doesn't recommend implementing such a policy because the email will be considered opened even if the user has yet to read the email. The challenge, therefore, is that many email clients, like iPhones, will load the tracking image regardless.