Disable or Block email tracking?

We received this related set of questions on the subject(s) of

  1. How email tracking works - images, pixels, and downloads
  2. How recipients can block or disable tracking and
  3. How to can I minimise the risk of having people block my email tracking

Here are the QUESTIONS we received: 

  1. How is the e-mail and document tracking technically performed? Do you attach an image to the e-mail body and by image download track the e-mail, or do you attach a pixel instead? If the second option is the case, can you please indicate what happens next?
  2. Is there an option for the recipient to disable or block e-mail tracking? For example, in case of attaching an image to the e-mail, the e-mail client can automatically block image download or the recipient can choose not to download the image, which prevents e-mail tracking. Can you please indicate what is done in case of your product? 
  3. What options does a recipient have to disable e-mail and document tracking? How are the risks of blocking the e-mail and document tracking mitigated?

ANSWERS:

  1. We use a (tracking) pixel which we call a "lead pixel". The result is the same, as an image for example. There is no technical difference between tracking an image or using a pixel. The one difference is that the pixel is not visible (as opposed to an image).
    Think of a pixel as an invisible image.
  2. There is no way to track an email (either way, pixel, image, or download) if the recipient does not accept the image(s), or initiate a download. In other words, the outcome is based on the settings or preference(s) of the end-user.
  3. How can i minimise the risk of having people block my tracking? This is a very interesting question. The answer is to make the email informative, (valuable), and put useful images (labeled) in it. In our experience, people will accept tracking if there are useful images - as seen from the tags behind the images.
    In other words: name your images descriptively - not [title].png - but something based on content:
    "chart of climate change impact - depicting planetary damage" -people would be more likely to load image(s). Result: the tracking pixel will also load.

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