Verizon Media's approach to email tracking and data access, particularly its shift away from traditional open and click tracking in favor of aggregated, anonymized data feeds (such as View Time Optimization or VTO), represents a significant shift in the email deliverability landscape. This strategy, rooted in a strong stance on user privacy, has profound implications for how senders measure campaign performance and manage their sender reputation, especially for those targeting Yahoo and AOL users. The move pushes marketers to re-evaluate their reliance on pixel-based tracking and consider alternative methods for understanding recipient engagement.
Key findings
Privacy-centric approach: Verizon Media (now Yahoo/AOL) explicitly states its belief that tracking email users is wrong, leading to proactive measures to prevent traditional email tracking (e.g., open pixels). This aligns with broader industry trends towards enhanced user privacy, such as GDPR compliance and Google's moves to disable third-party cookies.
Shift to aggregated data: Instead of granular, user-level tracking, Verizon Media encourages the use of anonymized performance feeds. These feeds provide aggregate data, which can include metrics on view time and other engagement signals without revealing individual user activity. This forces a re-evaluation of how Internet Service Providers track email engagement.
Monetization of data access: Unlike free tools like Google Postmaster Tools, access to Verizon Media's detailed performance feeds comes at a significant cost, suggesting a 'pay-to-play' model for in-depth insights into deliverability performance.
Limited access: The high cost and direct engagement required mean that these advanced data feeds are primarily accessible to large Email Service Providers (ESPs) and major senders, potentially leaving smaller senders at a disadvantage regarding granular performance insights.
View time optimization (VTO): VTO involves Verizon Media delaying email delivery to present messages to recipients at their optimal view time, even if it means altering the sequence of delivery. This challenges traditional assumptions about immediate inbox placement.
Key considerations
Rethinking engagement metrics: Senders need to pivot away from relying solely on open rates as a primary engagement metric. Instead, focus on other indicators like click-through rates (for links not proxied by Verizon), conversions, and overall customer lifetime value. Consider how email tracking pixels affect deliverability in this new environment.
Adapting to data limitations: Marketers must learn to work with aggregated data or develop more sophisticated first-party data strategies to understand user behavior. This requires a deeper understanding of audience segments and their overall engagement patterns.
Budgeting for advanced insights: For senders with a significant audience on Yahoo/AOL, investing in access to Verizon Media's data feeds via their ESPs may become a necessary cost for maintaining competitive deliverability and performance insights. Digiday notes how Verizon's privacy limits impacted their media ambitions, highlighting the tension between privacy and data accessibility.
Optimizing for delayed delivery: With VTO, the timing of an email's appearance in the inbox can be unpredictable. Marketers should focus on content relevance and list hygiene to ensure messages are valuable regardless of the exact delivery time, rather than relying on sending at peak hours.
What email marketers say
Email marketers have expressed a mix of concern and pragmatism regarding Verizon Media's stance on email tracking. Many recognize the broader industry shift towards privacy, yet grapple with the practical challenges of losing traditional engagement metrics. The introduction of paid data feeds raises questions about fairness and access, particularly for smaller organizations. There's a clear consensus that the landscape of email performance measurement is evolving, requiring new strategies and a willingness to adapt.
Key opinions
Inbox reordering: Marketers are curious whether Verizon Media's approach means emails will be reordered in the inbox based on what they deem best for the user, rather than strict delivery time.
Tracking pixels challenged: There's a sense that Verizon Media (and other ISPs) are subtly, or not so subtly, signaling that senders should move away from using traditional open and link tracking pixels.
Access to data feeds: A significant concern is that Verizon Media's performance feeds will only be accessible to large players or ESPs, leaving many senders in the dark regarding crucial data. This highlights challenges in understanding Yahoo and AOL email open rates post-changes.
Cost implications: While some find the pricing for data feeds not outrageous for what they offer, many confirm that the cost is substantial, reinforcing the idea that it's geared towards major players. This pay-to-play model for data is seen by some as 'shady'.
Trial program confusion: Some marketers reported signing up for a beta program related to these features but never hearing back, indicating potential issues with rollout or capacity.
Key considerations
Adaptation to new metrics: Marketers must find new ways to measure success beyond traditional open rates, focusing on other engagement signals provided by ISPs or through their own analytics post-click. The changing landscape means email deliverability issues now require different diagnostic approaches.
Budget allocation: For organizations heavily reliant on Verizon Media's user base, allocating budget for these premium data feeds may become a strategic necessity to maintain detailed performance visibility.
Exploring alternatives: Consider alternative methods of engagement measurement and data collection, perhaps through more direct first-party data capture on landing pages or by leveraging other forms of feedback. Piwik PRO discusses the value of first-party data in this context.
Fair access debate: The perception of unfair access due to cost could lead to a two-tier system where larger senders have better insights, potentially affecting the competitive landscape of email marketing.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that their colleague raised a valid point about Verizon Media potentially reordering email delivery in the inbox based on what they believe is best for the user, rather than chronological order. This raises questions about how real-time engagement data is processed and presented to the end-user.
8 Apr 2020 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from The Brand Hopper highlights that Verizon is expanding its marketing strategies beyond just connectivity, focusing on customer-centric approaches. This suggests a broader company shift that influences their email policies to prioritize user experience and trust.
20 Aug 2023 - The Brand Hopper
What the experts say
Industry experts largely view Verizon Media's approach as a reflection of a broader, inevitable paradigm shift towards greater user privacy and less intrusive data collection. While acknowledging the challenges this poses for traditional email measurement, they also see it as an opportunity for marketers to embrace more ethical and effective strategies. Concerns remain about the accessibility and cost of the new data feeds, and whether this creates an uneven playing field.
Key opinions
Paradigm shift: Experts believe that Verizon Media's stance, particularly its assertion that tracking customers is wrong, signals a significant industry shift away from traditional open and link tracking, aligning with growing privacy concerns.
Anonymized feeds: The preference for anonymized performance feeds over granular tracking is seen as an attempt to provide aggregate data while respecting user privacy. This impacts how email domain reputation is understood, as detailed engagement data becomes less available.
Cost as a barrier: Many experts confirm that the cost associated with accessing these data feeds is substantial, effectively limiting participation to major players and large ESPs, similar to how Verizon Connect's data practices emphasize first-party data while engaging with third parties.
ISP control over data: There's an observation that ISPs like Verizon Media and Google are moving towards a model where they track users themselves, but limit third-party tracking, sometimes with a price tag attached for data access.
Monetization strategy: The paid access to performance data feeds is perceived as an additional revenue stream for Verizon Media, selling what was previously gleaned through direct tracking.
Key considerations
Privacy by design: Email programs should proactively adopt privacy-by-design principles, minimizing reliance on invasive tracking methods and focusing on transparent data practices.
Data intelligence gap: Smaller senders may face a growing data intelligence gap compared to larger players who can afford access to premium ISP insights. This could necessitate greater reliance on troubleshooting Verizon Media blocking through other means.
Industry implications: The trend set by Verizon Media, followed by other major ISPs, signals a future where email deliverability and performance measurement are increasingly controlled by mailbox providers, potentially leading to more centralized data access models. AdExchanger provides a deep dive into Verizon's data practices and their push towards deterministic identification.
Redefining ROI: Marketers and deliverability experts will need to redefine how they measure email campaign ROI, moving beyond easily tracked metrics to focus on broader business outcomes that can be attributed through other channels.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks states that the most revealing line in Verizon Media's announcement is their belief that 'tracking our customers is wrong'. They suggest this is a clear sign of a paradigm shift in email marketing, where privacy experts are increasingly viewing open and link tracking as an invasion of recipient privacy.
8 Apr 2020 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise asserts that the current shift away from third-party cookies and direct tracking is a necessary evolution for digital advertising and email. They advise marketers to embrace first-party data strategies to build more sustainable and privacy-compliant relationships with their audience.
1 Apr 2024 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
Official documentation from Verizon Media (now Yahoo/AOL Postmaster) explicitly outlines its privacy-first philosophy, which underpins its approach to email tracking. This documentation serves as the authoritative source for understanding their policies regarding user data and the availability of performance insights. It details their commitment to building consumer email applications without relying on traditional tracking, instead offering anonymized data feeds for senders to gauge performance.
Key findings
Anti-tracking stance: Verizon Media's official stance is that tracking email users is 'wrong', leading them to take proactive steps to prevent it, aiming for a safer and better email experience for their Yahoo, AOL, and Verizon users.
Focus on consumer experience: The core of their mail team's mission is to build the best consumer email applications. This user-centric philosophy dictates their policies, including those on data privacy and email deliverability.
Performance feeds as alternative: The postmaster documentation promotes the use of anonymized email deliverability performance feeds as the sanctioned method for senders to understand their aggregate performance, moving away from pixel-based tracking.
View time optimization (VTO) availability: VTO is presented as a feature to optimize when users see messages, indicating that delivery timing is managed by the ISP for improved user experience rather than immediate pass-through. Mailgun's partnership further validates its implementation.
Broader privacy trends: Verizon's overall corporate communications emphasize building customer trust by addressing concerns about data usage, which provides context for their email-specific policies. This aligns with trends like GDPR's impact on email marketing.
Key considerations
Official channel importance: Senders must regularly consult the Yahoo/AOL Postmaster blog and documentation for official policy updates and guidance. This is the primary source of truth for their deliverability expectations.
Compliance with new metrics: Adherence to the new data access model means senders should explore integration with or rely on ESPs that offer access to these performance feeds to inform their strategy. This includes understanding the nuances of how Gmail tracks engagement for comparison.
Understanding VTO's impact: Recognize that VTO can affect the immediate visibility of emails. Campaigns that depend on precise real-time delivery may need re-strategizing. The Postmaster @ Yahoo & AOL blog (part of Tumblr) explains their privacy stance in detail.
Adopting first-party data: The emphasis on user privacy by Verizon Media signals a strong need for marketers to shift towards collecting and leveraging their own first-party data for personalized and effective campaigns.
Technical article
Postmaster @ Yahoo, AOL, Verizon documentation states that at the core of their mail team's mission is building the best consumer email applications for Yahoo, AOL, and Verizon users. This foundational principle drives their decisions regarding email policies and tracking.
8 Apr 2020 - Postmaster @ Yahoo, AOL, Verizon
Technical article
Postmaster @ Yahoo, AOL, Verizon documentation clarifies their belief that tracking their customers is wrong, and they have taken proactive steps to prevent it, aiming to make email better and safer for everyone. This outlines their ethical stance on user data.