What tools or systems are responsible for these automated link clicks?

Automated clicks are primarily generated by email security systems, such as spam filters, antivirus software, and corporate email gateways. They scan links for malicious content, phishing attempts, or other threats before the email reaches the recipient or when it's opened. Mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook.com also use these methods.

Do automated clicks skew email campaign metrics, and how can I account for this?

Yes, automated clicks can significantly inflate your reported click-through rates, making it difficult to accurately assess genuine user engagement. This can lead to misinterpretations of campaign performance and hinder effective optimization strategies. It's important to use tools that can help you detect and segment bot clicks .

Can automated clicks improve or harm my email deliverability?

While the primary goal of these clicks is security, they can indirectly contribute to better deliverability. When security systems scan and deem your links safe, it builds trust for your sending domain, which can positively influence your domain reputation . However, the direct impact on inbox placement is complex and depends on many factors, including your sender authentication and content quality.

How can I detect automated clicks in my email analytics?

You can identify automated clicks by analyzing click patterns such as clicks immediately after sending, clicks from unusual geographic locations, or clicks from generic user agents commonly associated with bots. Look for multiple clicks on every link in the email or clicks from known data center IP ranges. Tools and platforms may offer features to identify artificial email opens and clicks .

What data supports filtering tools clicking on links in emails? - Sender reputation - Email deliverability - Knowledge base

When reviewing email campaign analytics, you might encounter click rates that seem unusually high, especially from recipients you wouldn't expect to engage immediately. It's a common observation among email marketers and deliverability professionals that not all clicks are generated by human interaction. This phenomenon often leads to questions about the validity of engagement metrics and the true performance of email campaigns.

The data supporting automated clicks on links within emails isn't always presented as clear-cut statistics from a single source, but rather as an observable pattern derived from the behavior of various email security and filtering tools. These tools are designed to protect users from malicious content, and their protective measures often involve simulating user interaction with email links.

Understanding this behavior is crucial for accurate reporting and effective email strategy. It helps differentiate genuine engagement from automated scans, providing a clearer picture of your audience's interaction with your emails. We'll explore the evidence and reasons behind these non-human clicks.

Why filtering tools click on links

The primary reason email filtering tools click on links is to ensure security. Before an email even reaches an inbox, or sometimes when it's opened, security systems scan its content for threats. This process often involves following embedded URLs to check for malware, phishing attempts, or other suspicious activity on the linked page.

Mailbox providers and corporate security gateways employ sophisticated systems to protect their users. These systems are designed to detect potential dangers that a human might accidentally trigger. By pre-clicking links in a sandboxed environment, they can analyze the destination URL and its content without exposing the end-user to risk. This proactive approach helps prevent a wide range of cyberattacks, from ransomware to credential harvesting.

Automated email clicks are a direct consequence of this security imperative. These systems prioritize safety, often at the expense of precise engagement metrics. It's a trade-off that email service providers and security vendors accept to maintain a secure email ecosystem.

Types of filtering tools and their behavior

A variety of entities are responsible for these automated clicks, ranging from major mailbox providers to enterprise-level security solutions. Each has its own methods and reasons for inspecting URLs, but the underlying goal is consistent: threat detection and user protection.

Some of the most prominent players include:

Entity	Reason for clicking	Example
Mailbox providers	Scanning for malware, phishing, and spam before delivery or upon display.	Microsoft Safe Links, Google
Corporate security gateways	Proactive threat detection for internal networks, often re-writing URLs.	Barracuda Email Security Gateway
Antivirus/Endpoint protection	Scanning links locally on the user's device before allowing access.	Trend Micro Email Security

Many of these systems operate in the background, making it challenging to differentiate their clicks from genuine human interaction. They often use automated processes, sometimes referred to as bot clicks or robot clicks, which can skew your email campaign metrics significantly.

Identifying and mitigating non-human clicks

The challenge for email marketers is to accurately measure campaign performance when a significant portion of reported clicks might be non-human. Identifying and segmenting these automated clicks is vital for gaining true insights into subscriber engagement. Fortunately, there are various data points and techniques that can help you distinguish between bot and human activity.

To effectively filter out these clicks, you need to look at specific indicators in your click data. These include:

Rapid clicks: Links clicked milliseconds after an email is sent or opened.
Unusual user agents: Generic or known bot user-agent strings in your web server logs.
Geographic inconsistencies: Clicks originating from data centers or locations far from the intended recipient.
Multiple clicks on all links: Bots often click every link, including unsubscribe or hidden links.
IP address patterns: A single IP address generating many clicks across different recipients.

Best practices for managing bot clicks

Segment data: Isolate and analyze bot clicks separately from human engagement for accurate reporting.
Implement robust authentication: Strong SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records can build trust with security filters, potentially reducing unnecessary scanning.
Monitor deliverability: Keep an eye on your domain reputation and blocklist status to ensure emails are reaching the inbox.
Consider hidden links: Use invisible or trap links to detect bot activity without affecting user experience.

The impact on email deliverability and metrics

The prevalence of filtering tools clicking on links means that raw click data often doesn't tell the full story of your email campaign's success. Inflated click rates can give a misleading impression of engagement, making it difficult to optimize your campaigns effectively.

Non-human interactions can also impact your sender reputation, although usually in a benign way if your links are legitimate. When security systems safely validate your links, it can subtly reinforce the trustworthiness of your domain. However, a sudden, inexplicable surge in clicks could still trigger spam filters if it deviates too much from expected behavior. Monitoring for these anomalies is key to maintaining good deliverability and avoiding a blacklist (or blocklist) listing.

Views from the trenches

Best practices

Always implement strong email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to build sender trust and mitigate potential issues from automated scans.

Regularly review your email analytics, paying close attention to user agent strings and IP addresses associated with clicks to identify bot activity.

Consider segmenting your reports to differentiate between suspected bot clicks and genuine human engagement for more accurate performance insights.

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Common pitfalls

Over-optimizing campaigns based solely on raw click-through rates without accounting for automated clicks can lead to misguided strategy.

Ignoring sudden spikes in clicks or opens, as these can indicate either bot activity or malicious actors attempting to exploit your links.

Not understanding that some mailbox providers and corporate filters will intentionally click links as part of their security protocols.

Failing to adapt email content and link structures when you notice high automated click rates, especially on less obvious links.

Expert tips

Focus on deeper engagement metrics like conversions or replies, which are less susceptible to automated interactions, for a truer measure of campaign success.

Leverage engagement data from tools like Google Postmaster Tools, which often filter out bot activity, to get a cleaner view of your performance with major providers.

For B2B sending, recognize that corporate security solutions are a significant source of automated clicks, requiring a different analytical approach.

Keep an eye on trends over time rather than isolated metrics, as consistent patterns can reveal whether automated clicks are increasing or decreasing.

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says understanding the type of data clients seek regarding automated clicks is crucial for providing relevant evidence.

2020-05-27 - Email Geeks

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says many clients are unaware that security filters and testing tools automatically click on email links.

2020-05-28 - Email Geeks

Navigating automated email clicks

Automated link clicks by filtering tools are a fundamental aspect of modern email security. While they can complicate email analytics, their purpose is protective, safeguarding recipients from potential threats. Recognizing that these clicks exist and understanding their origin is the first step toward accurate campaign measurement and robust deliverability.

By implementing best practices for data analysis and maintaining strong email authentication, you can navigate the complexities of bot clicks. This approach ensures that your email marketing efforts are based on reliable data, leading to more effective strategies and improved sender reputation with mailbox providers and corporate filters alike.