Summary
Proofpoint's security services, particularly TAP URL Defense (now URL Protection), automatically rewrite and pre-scan links within incoming emails by 'clicking' them. This essential security measure, designed to detect malicious content before it reaches the end-user, results in significantly inflated email click-through rates. For email marketers, these 'clicks' are not genuine user interactions, making it challenging to accurately assess campaign performance and true recipient engagement without proper data analysis and filtering.
Key findings
- Automated Link Scanning: Proofpoint's URL Protection feature pre-scans links by 'clicking' them in a sandbox environment to identify malicious content, which is a core function of its threat detection system.
- Inflated Click Rates: This automated pre-clicking behavior leads to a significant inflation of reported click-through rates (CTRs) in email marketing analytics, as these are not genuine user engagements.
- Identifiable Bot Traffic: Proofpoint-generated clicks can often be identified in web server logs and analytics using specific user agent strings (e.g., 'Proofpoint URL Defense') or known Proofpoint IP addresses.
- Domain Reputation Complexity: While link hostname and organizational domain are key for reputation, some security services and blacklists apply reputation at a broader level, like *.domain.com, potentially limiting the isolation benefits of customer-specific subdomains for tracking links.
Key considerations
- Filter Analytics Data: Marketers should implement filters in their web analytics tools, based on Proofpoint's user agents or IP ranges, to exclude automated clicks and obtain more accurate user engagement metrics.
- Adjust Reporting & Metrics: It's crucial to adjust internal reporting to distinguish between automated security clicks and genuine human interactions, focusing on deeper funnel metrics like website visits, conversions, and other post-click engagement signals to assess campaign effectiveness.
- Review DMARC Policy: Considering a move to a more restrictive DMARC policy, such as p=reject, may help reduce certain types of spam filter clicks, but this change requires careful monitoring to avoid impacting legitimate email delivery.
- Understand Proofpoint Settings: Familiarity with Proofpoint's URL Protection configurations and logs can provide insights into how and why links are rewritten and pre-scanned, aiding in the interpretation of click data.
- Strategize Tracking Links: White-labeling tracking links or using customer-specific subdomains can assist with content reputation and isolation, but marketers should be aware of the limitations regarding how widely domain reputation is applied.
What email marketers say
12 marketer opinions
Automated security measures from Proofpoint, particularly its URL Defense and TAP URL Protection, frequently lead to an overstatement of email click metrics. This crucial security function, designed to protect recipients from malicious content by pre-scanning links, registers 'clicks' even without user interaction. Consequently, email marketers face challenges in accurately gauging genuine recipient engagement and campaign performance without implementing specific data analysis and filtering techniques.
Key opinions
- Automated Pre-scanning: Proofpoint's security features, such as URL Defense and TAP URL Protection, actively pre-scan all links in emails by 'clicking' them to identify potential threats.
- Inflated Engagement Metrics: This automated behavior artificially inflates email click rates, as these are not genuine user interactions but rather system-generated events.
- Identifiable Bot Traffic: Proofpoint's automated clicks can often be identified in web server logs and analytics platforms by specific user agent strings, such as 'Proofpoint URL Defense', or through known IP ranges.
- Domain Reputation Nuances: While custom subdomains or white-labeling tracking links can aid content reputation, some security services and blacklists apply reputation broadly across an entire organizational domain, such as *.domain.com.
- DMARC Policy Influence: Moving to a more restrictive DMARC policy, like p=reject, may help reduce certain types of spam filter clicks, though such a change requires careful implementation and monitoring.
Key considerations
- Filter Analytics for Accuracy: Marketers should implement robust filtering mechanisms in their analytics tools, leveraging Proofpoint-specific user agents, IP addresses, or referrer information, to exclude automated clicks and obtain accurate engagement data.
- Shift Performance Metrics: To truly assess campaign success, focus should shift beyond raw click rates to deeper funnel metrics such as website visits, conversions, and other post-click engagement, or to internal reporting that separates human and non-human traffic.
- Strategic Link Management: Consider white-labeling tracking links or using customer-specific subdomains to enhance content reputation and isolation, while also understanding the technical requirements, such as certificate management, for these setups.
- Review DMARC Policy Carefully: Explore the potential benefits of adopting a stricter DMARC policy (p=reject) to mitigate certain bot clicks, but proceed with caution and thorough monitoring to avoid disrupting legitimate email delivery.
- Analyze HTTP Client Metadata: Investigate the metadata of HTTP clients involved in clicks to gain deeper insights into their origin and nature, helping to distinguish between genuine user interactions and automated scans.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that ProofPoint is likely following links to look for hostile content and suggests looking at the metadata of the HTTP clients involved. He recommends massaging internal reporting to suppress or separately account for non-human interaction traffic. He also advises that white-labeling tracking links or using customer-specific subdomains can help with content reputation and isolation, as the hostname/organizational domain of links is a significant reputation key. He provides technical guidance on managing certificates for white-labeled links to automate the process.
26 Oct 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that customer-level subdomains for tracking links may not help with reputation isolation because many services and blacklists set reputation at the *.domain.com level, applying it to the entire organizational domain.
27 Jan 2025 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
2 expert opinions
Proofpoint's URL defense service, a crucial security feature, automatically pre-scans links in emails by 'clicking' them to identify malicious content. This essential protective action inflates reported click-through rates (CTRs), creating a significant challenge for email marketers attempting to accurately measure true recipient engagement and campaign effectiveness. Understanding this mechanism and identifying these automated clicks via specific user agents in logs is vital for proper data interpretation.
Key opinions
- Automated Link Scanning: Proofpoint's security systems, like URL Defense, automatically click links within emails to scan for malicious content, a core function of their threat detection service.
- Inflated CTRs: This pre-clicking behavior artificially inflates reported click-through rates, making it difficult to distinguish genuine user engagement from automated security scans.
- Identifiable Bot Traffic: Automated Proofpoint clicks can often be identified in click logs by specific user agents, such as 'Proofpoint URL Defense', providing a way to segment this traffic.
- Data Interpretation Challenge: The prevalence of these automated clicks necessitates a careful re-evaluation of raw CTR data to avoid misinterpreting campaign performance and recipient interest.
Key considerations
- Data Segmentation for Accuracy: Marketers should analyze click logs to identify and filter out automated Proofpoint clicks, specifically looking for distinct user agents like 'Proofpoint URL Defense' to gain clearer insights into genuine human engagement.
- Broader Metric Analysis: To accurately gauge campaign success, email marketers should look beyond potentially inflated click-through rates (CTRs) and analyze other engagement metrics, such as website visits, conversions, or time spent on landing pages.
- Acknowledge Automated Activity: It is crucial for marketers to acknowledge that a portion of their reported clicks will be automated security scans, informing a more realistic interpretation of their email performance data.
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that Proofpoint, like other security vendors, utilizes a URL defense service that automatically clicks links within emails to scan for malicious content. This pre-clicking action can inflate reported click-through rates, making it difficult for email marketers to accurately assess true user engagement. Matthew Vernhout advises marketers to identify these automated clicks by looking for specific user agents, such as "Proofpoint URL Defense," in their click logs. Understanding this mechanism is crucial for accurately interpreting click data and effectively "reducing" the misinterpretation of high click events.
18 Mar 2024 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that security products like Proofpoint pre-click links in emails as part of their threat detection, which significantly skews click-through rate (CTR) metrics. Laura Atkins highlights that these automated clicks can inflate reported CTRs, making it challenging for email marketers to gauge actual recipient engagement. To "reduce" the impact of these high Proofpoint click events on metric accuracy, she emphasizes the need for marketers to acknowledge this phenomenon and consider analyzing other engagement metrics alongside CTR for a more accurate understanding of campaign performance.
23 Oct 2023 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Proofpoint's URL Protection, formerly TAP URL Defense, is a critical security feature designed to shield users from malicious links by rewriting and pre-scanning URLs in a sandbox environment. This process involves Proofpoint's system automatically 'clicking' these links for analysis, a necessary step for its threat detection. While essential for security, these automated clicks inflate email marketing click-through rates, making it difficult for marketers to distinguish genuine user engagement from system activity without proper understanding of Proofpoint's configurations and log data.
Key findings
- URL Rewriting and Pre-scanning: Proofpoint's URL Protection actively rewrites incoming URLs and pre-scans them in a sandbox environment, performing a system-generated 'click' to analyze content at the time of access for security.
- Necessity for Threat Detection: These automated clicks are an inherent and necessary part of Proofpoint's security functionality, enabling its Targeted Attack Protection (TAP) to identify and neutralize malicious links before they reach the end-user.
- Administrator Control and Visibility: Proofpoint administrators can configure URL Protection policies and access detailed logs, which provide critical insights into which links are rewritten, when they are clicked by the system, and the outcomes of these security scans.
- Distinguishing Clicks for Marketers: Marketers must understand that high click events from Proofpoint are system-generated and not user interactions, requiring a deeper dive into administrative settings and logs to differentiate between genuine engagement and security pre-scans.
Key considerations
- Consult IT/Security Teams: Collaborate with internal IT or security teams who manage Proofpoint configurations to understand specific URL Protection policies and how they impact email link behavior and automated clicks.
- Utilize Proofpoint Logs for Validation: Access and review Proofpoint's URL Defense activity logs to cross-reference with email analytics, helping to identify and validate clicks generated by Proofpoint's system versus actual user engagement.
- Educate Stakeholders on Metrics: Inform internal stakeholders that a portion of reported email clicks are security-generated and not genuine user interactions, advocating for a more nuanced interpretation of click-through rates and emphasizing deeper engagement metrics.
Technical article
Documentation from Proofpoint explains that TAP URL Defense (now URL Protection) rewrites URLs in inbound messages, typically pointing them to a Proofpoint proxy that scans content at the time of click. This process involves Proofpoint's system "clicking" the rewritten URL for analysis, which can be misconstrued as a user click.
10 Jun 2023 - Proofpoint Essentials Help
Technical article
Documentation from Proofpoint explains that administrators can configure URL Protection settings, including policies for rewriting URLs and handling suspicious links. Understanding these configurations can help email marketers comprehend why their links are being rewritten and subsequently "clicked" by Proofpoint's service for security scanning before reaching the end-user.
11 Apr 2024 - Proofpoint Essentials Help
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