Why am I seeing inflated clicks in my ESP reporting due to bot activity?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 17 May 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
9 min read
It can be perplexing and frustrating when your email service provider (ESP) reports show inflated click metrics, seemingly out of sync with your actual campaign performance. You're analyzing your email marketing efforts, expecting to see genuine subscriber engagement, but instead, the numbers appear to be significantly skewed.
This discrepancy is often attributed to the silent, tireless work of email bots. These automated programs, designed for various purposes, interact with your emails in ways that mimic human behavior, leading to artificial increases in your click-through rates. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial for accurate campaign analysis and effective strategy.
The primary reason these bots click on your links isn't malicious in most cases. Instead, it's often a security measure implemented by email providers and corporate networks to protect recipients from harmful content. They scan URLs within incoming emails for phishing attempts, malware, and other security threats before the email even reaches the recipient's inbox.
While beneficial for security, this automated scanning activity can complicate your analytics. It presents a challenge for marketers who rely on precise data to measure campaign success, optimize content, and understand their audience's true engagement levels. Without accounting for bot activity, your performance reports might paint a misleading picture of your email program's effectiveness.
Understanding email bot activity
Email bots are automated programs that interact with emails without human intervention. They are a significant component of modern email security infrastructure. These bots perform various actions, including opening emails and clicking links, to assess potential threats.
The main purpose behind these automated clicks is link scanning. Before an email lands in a user's inbox, or when a user clicks a suspicious link, security systems automatically click every URL to determine if it leads to phishing sites, malware, or other malicious content. This pre-scanning (or safe link scanning) helps protect users from potential harm. These systems are active across various email providers and corporate environments, making them a widespread source of inflated metrics.
Beyond security, some bots may also simulate engagement to identify spam or test the responsiveness of email tracking mechanisms. This can further contribute to the inflated numbers you see in your ESP reports. The challenge lies in distinguishing these legitimate, non-human interactions from genuine subscriber clicks to get a clearer view of your campaign's performance.
As automated programs, these bots often click every link within an email, regardless of its relevance to a human user. This blanket approach to link verification means that even if a human only clicks one link, the bots may register clicks on all links, artificially inflating the total click count. The more links an email contains, the higher the potential for bot-driven click inflation.
Detecting bot activity in your reporting
Identifying bot clicks requires careful observation of your email metrics beyond just the raw numbers. One of the most common indicators is a sudden, inexplicable spike in click rates, particularly from specific domains or IP ranges. For instance, many marketers have reported increased bot activity from Microsoft (Outlook) domains, where security scanners are particularly active.
Another tell-tale sign is the timing of these clicks. Bot clicks typically occur within seconds or minutes of an email being delivered, often before a human recipient would even have a chance to open it. If you see a high volume of clicks almost immediately after sending, it's highly probable that bots are at play. You can also monitor for clicks that don't correlate with other engagement metrics, such as conversions or website visits.
Email Service Providers (ESPs) are increasingly aware of this issue and some have started to implement features to filter out or flag suspected bot activity. However, the effectiveness of these filters can vary. It's important to understand how your specific ESP handles this, or to explore methods to identify and mitigate bot clicks yourself for more accurate reporting.
Examining user agent strings, IP addresses (especially those belonging to known data centers or security services), and click patterns can help differentiate human interaction from automated bot activity. If a click comes from an IP address associated with a data center (like Amazon EC2 IPs), it's a strong indicator of a bot. Also, observe if there's unusual click activity concentrated on a single link.
Impact on email metrics and sender reputation
While bot clicks are often benign from a security standpoint, their impact on your email marketing metrics can be significant. Inflated click rates can lead to misinterpretations of campaign success, making it difficult to accurately assess what content resonates with your audience or how effective your calls to action truly are. This can result in misguided strategic decisions and wasted resources.
The primary concern is data distortion. When bot activity skews your engagement data, you lose the ability to accurately segment your audience based on their actual interests, test different subject lines or content, or optimize send times. This impacts your ability to improve future campaigns and achieve your marketing goals.
Regarding sender reputation, the relationship with bot clicks is nuanced. Because many bot clicks originate from legitimate security scanners operated by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and email providers like Google and Microsoft, these interactions don't typically harm your domain or IP reputation. In fact, these scans are a normal part of the email ecosystem and indicate that your emails are being processed for delivery.
However, ignoring the impact of bot clicks on your internal metrics can lead to poor decision-making. You might incorrectly attribute a high click rate to effective content, when in reality, a significant portion of those clicks are automated. This can lead to a false sense of security regarding your campaign performance.
Strategies for accurate reporting
While it's impossible to completely eliminate bot activity, there are several strategies to gain more accurate insights from your email performance data. The first step is to recognize that not all clicks are equal. Focus on metrics that truly reflect human engagement, such as conversions, website visits, or replies.
Some ESPs offer built-in features to filter out or segment bot clicks, providing a clearer view of human interaction. If your ESP doesn't offer this, you might need to implement your own analytical methods. This could involve cross-referencing your email click data with website analytics (like Google Analytics) which often have more sophisticated bot filtering capabilities. You can learn more about how email bot clicks affect campaigns.
Advanced analysis can involve looking at patterns like click timing (clicks within milliseconds of send time are likely bots), IP addresses, and user agent strings. If multiple clicks originate from the same IP address or an IP range known to host security scanners, these can often be safely attributed to bots. Some organizations also employ web application firewalls (WAFs) to help manage and identify bot traffic at a broader level, though this is a more advanced solution typically for larger infrastructures.
Ultimately, the goal is to shift your focus from vanity metrics to actionable insights. While raw click rates might be inflated, understanding the underlying reasons allows you to refine your reporting and concentrate on genuine engagement that drives your business objectives. This shift helps ensure your email marketing strategy is built on solid, reliable data.
Gaining clearer insights
The challenge of inflated clicks due to bot activity is a persistent one for email marketers. It requires a nuanced understanding of why these bots operate and how their actions manifest in your reporting. While largely beneficial for recipient security, these automated interactions necessitate a more sophisticated approach to data analysis.
By actively monitoring for tell-tale signs of bot behavior, leveraging ESP features or external analytics, and prioritizing metrics that truly reflect human engagement, you can navigate this landscape effectively. This ensures that your email marketing decisions are informed by accurate data, leading to better campaign performance and stronger subscriber relationships. The future of email marketing metrics will continue to evolve, making ongoing vigilance and adaptation key to success.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Actively monitor changes in click patterns immediately after a send, looking for disproportionate spikes in the first few minutes.
Segment your audience data to analyze engagement from different email clients or corporate domains, which may reveal bot activity concentrations.
Focus on downstream metrics like website visits, form submissions, or purchases, as these are less susceptible to bot inflation than raw clicks.
Common pitfalls
Relying solely on raw click rates as a primary indicator of campaign success without accounting for bot-induced inflation.
Failing to cross-reference ESP data with external analytics tools, which often have better bot detection and filtering capabilities.
Expert tips
Use A/B testing specifically for different link structures or tracking parameters to observe how bot behavior might change, helping to refine your data filtering.
Maintain consistent email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to build trust with ISPs, which can subtly influence how aggressively security bots scan your links.
Regularly consult ISP postmaster pages for updates on their security scanning practices, as these can evolve and impact your click reporting.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says they have observed an increase in Outlook domains testing links and generating more clicks. It is a good practice to review performance across multiple email clients to see if similar patterns appear.
2024-06-27 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says that several Klaviyo customers have noted this issue, theorizing that ISPs and security scanners might be rotating which senders they scrutinize. They suggested investigating how ESPs like Klaviyo filter these clicks to understand if their methods are effective.
Google and 
Microsoft, these interactions don't typically harm your domain or IP reputation. In fact, these scans are a normal part of the email ecosystem and indicate that your emails are being processed for delivery.
