Does Movable Ink negatively affect email deliverability due to rendering delays?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 17 Jun 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
7 min read
When clients raise concerns about email deliverability, it's natural to investigate every potential factor. I recently encountered a question regarding Movable Ink and whether its dynamic content rendering might negatively affect email deliverability due to delays. It's a valid concern to explore given the complexity of email ecosystems and the various elements that can influence inbox placement.
Movable Ink is a platform that allows marketers to create highly personalized, real-time content within emails. This means elements like countdown timers, localized images, and live polling update at the moment the email is opened, not when it's sent. This dynamic nature is what leads to the question of rendering delays.
From what I've seen and experienced, the short answer is generally no, Movable Ink's rendering delays do not negatively affect email deliverability in a direct, measurable way. Deliverability is primarily influenced by factors related to sending reputation, authentication, and content relevance, rather than the client-side rendering speed of dynamic elements.
Understanding the separation of concerns
Email deliverability largely depends on how internet service providers (ISPs) and mailbox providers (MBPs) like Google and Outlook perceive your sending practices and sender reputation. This assessment happens during the SMTP transaction, when the email is being sent and received by mail servers.
The actual rendering of an email, including any dynamic content powered by Movable Ink, occurs on the recipient's side, within their email client or webmail interface. This process happens after the email has successfully passed through the initial spam filters and been delivered to the inbox. Therefore, rendering speed isn't a factor in whether an email lands in the inbox or the spam folder.
Some companies might suggest that slow rendering impacts deliverability. This often stems from a misunderstanding of how email delivery and rendering operate. While a poor user experience due to slow rendering could indirectly lead to lower engagement over time (e.g., fewer opens or clicks), it won't directly cause your emails to be blacklisted or blocklisted by an ISP.
The true factors of email deliverability
The core mechanisms that determine deliverability, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, authenticate the sender's identity and ensure the email hasn't been tampered with in transit. These checks happen before rendering. Think of it like a postal service. They care about who sent the letter, if it's properly addressed, and if the stamp is valid, not how quickly you open it or read the content after it's in your mailbox.
While Movable Ink works by inserting image tags (or similar methods) that point to their servers for dynamic content, this is similar to how email tracking pixels or externally hosted images work. The URL itself is typically scanned for malicious content, but the speed at which the image then loads (client-side) doesn't typically impact whether the email lands in the inbox.
The main concern with external content loading is usually related to the reputation of the hosting domain or if the content itself is deemed malicious. Movable Ink is a reputable company, and their infrastructure is designed to serve content quickly and reliably, minimizing any potential loading delays on their end.
Myth: rendering delays hurt deliverability
The idea that client-side rendering delays directly impact email deliverability is a misconception. ISPs evaluate email authenticity and sender reputation during the initial mail transfer protocol (SMTP) transaction.
Content Scanning: Initial content scans look for spammy keywords or malicious links, not rendering performance.
Indirect effects and user experience
While Movable Ink typically doesn't directly harm deliverability, it's worth noting some indirect considerations. Mailbox providers, especially Apple and Google, have implemented proxy open services (like Apple Mail Privacy Protection). This means that email content, including Movable Ink's dynamic elements, might be pre-fetched and rendered on proxy servers, rather than directly by the end-user.
This pre-fetching can sometimes affect the real-time accuracy of certain dynamic features, such as hyper-localized content or precise countdown timers, but it doesn't impact whether the email successfully reaches the inbox. It just means the content might be displayed as it was when the proxy server first rendered it, not necessarily at the exact moment the end-user opens it.
While not a deliverability issue, poor rendering (regardless of the cause) can impact user experience, leading to lower engagement rates. If emails load slowly or don't display correctly, recipients might delete them, mark them as spam, or simply ignore them. Over time, consistently low engagement can signal to ISPs that your emails are not valuable, which can then indirectly affect your sender reputation.
Addressing client concerns and best practices
If a client is concerned about Movable Ink affecting deliverability, it's crucial to understand the root cause of their concern. It could be based on misinformation, or they might be conflating rendering issues with actual inbox placement problems. You can reassure them by explaining the separation between delivery and rendering.
For general email deliverability best practices, whether using dynamic content or not, ensure that your email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is correctly configured and that you maintain a healthy sender reputation. You should also focus on sending relevant content to engaged subscribers.
Always conduct thorough testing of your email campaigns. This includes testing how emails render across different clients and devices, especially when incorporating advanced dynamic elements. If you notice any significant slowdowns, it's worth investigating the email's HTML structure or the dynamic content setup.
Testing with and without Movable Ink snippets can help confirm if any perceived rendering issues are indeed tied to the platform or other elements within the email. Focus on metrics that truly reflect deliverability, such as inbox placement rates and bounce rates, rather than just perceived rendering speed.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Ensure your email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are always correctly configured.
Maintain a clean and engaged email list to foster a positive sender reputation.
Regularly test email rendering across various clients to ensure a consistent user experience.
Common pitfalls
Misinterpreting client-side rendering delays as deliverability issues.
Overlooking fundamental authentication failures or low sender reputation when diagnosing deliverability problems.
Believing in
Expert tips
Rendering time does not impact the SMTP transaction; deliverability is decided before rendering.
Movable Ink is a reputable company, their platform is designed for dynamic content with minimal deliverability impact.
Proxy opens (e.g., Apple Mail Privacy Protection) may affect real-time dynamic content, not deliverability itself.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says Movable Ink is a very reputable company, and their clients typically experience no deliverability issues when using the platform.
2022-08-26 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says they haven't known Movable Ink to give bad or silly advice, suggesting any concerns might stem from misinformation rather than actual issues.
2022-08-26 - Email Geeks
Final thoughts on dynamic content and deliverability
Movable Ink is a widely used and reputable platform in the email marketing industry. The concern about rendering delays directly impacting email deliverability is largely unfounded.
Deliverability is determined at the server level, based on factors like sender reputation, authentication, and content compliance, not on how quickly an email renders in the recipient's inbox.
While a slow-loading email can certainly lead to a poor user experience and potentially lower engagement over time, this is an indirect effect, not a direct cause of emails landing in spam or being blacklisted. Focus on the core principles of good email hygiene and authentication, and Movable Ink should serve as a powerful tool to enhance your email campaigns, not hinder them.
Google and 
Outlook perceive your sending practices and sender reputation. This assessment happens during the SMTP transaction, when the email is being sent and received by mail servers.
Apple and Google, have implemented proxy open services (like Apple Mail Privacy Protection). This means that email content, including Movable Ink's dynamic elements, might be pre-fetched and rendered on proxy servers, rather than directly by the end-user.
