Summary
A sudden surge in bot click activity in email campaigns can stem from several sources, requiring a multifaceted diagnostic approach. Security software, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), and improved pre-fetch link checking by mailbox providers contribute to inflated click rates. Analyzing user agents, IP addresses, and click patterns is crucial, alongside evaluating recipient domains for patterns and utilizing bot filtering tools like Google Analytics and Cloudflare. Ensuring human verification of lead data and awareness of the robots.txt exclusion protocol also help mitigate bot-related issues.
Key findings
- Security Scans: Security software and new email security measures implemented by recipient email providers can cause inflated click rates as they scan and pre-fetch links.
- Privacy Protection: Apple's MPP inflates click rates because it pre-loads email content, registering clicks regardless of genuine user engagement.
- Traffic Patterns: Analyzing IP addresses, user agents, and click timing helps identify suspicious activity indicative of bot traffic or click fraud.
- Recipient Domains: Patterns in recipient domains, such as clustering around a single spam filter, can signal bot activity.
- Filtering Tools: Google Analytics and Cloudflare provide tools for filtering out known bots and spiders.
- Data Verification: Sourcing data where humans have filled in lead information helps to avoid the bots getting into your data.
Key considerations
- Unique vs. Total: Distinguish between unique and total clicks to assess genuine engagement.
- User Agent Analysis: Thoroughly analyze user agent data to detect bots and non-human click activity.
- Segmented Analysis: Segment Apple Mail users for separate engagement analysis due to MPP-related inflation.
- Bot Filtering Implementation: Implement bot filtering in Google Analytics and leverage Cloudflare's bot management tools.
- Robots.txt Awareness: Understanding and recognizing compliance with the robots.txt protocol helps identify and flag malicious bots.
- Sourcing Strategy: Review your process and make sure that a human is filling in all of the lead data.
What email marketers say
8 marketer opinions
A sudden increase in bot click activity in email campaigns can be attributed to several factors. These include security software clicking links for threat detection, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection inflating click rates due to pre-loading content, and mailbox providers improving their pre-fetch link checking capabilities. Competitors attempting to skew engagement metrics and new email security measures implemented by recipient email providers can also contribute. Identifying bot traffic involves analyzing IP addresses, user agents, and behavioral patterns.
Key opinions
- Security Software: Corporate security software often clicks links to check for malicious content, leading to a click spike.
- MPP Inflation: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection can inflate click rates due to pre-loading email content.
- Pre-Fetch Improvements: Mailbox providers improving pre-fetch link checking can cause a surge in clicks.
- Security Measures: New email security measures by providers may involve automatic link clicks.
- Traffic Analysis: Identifying bot traffic needs analyzing IP addresses, user agents, and click patterns.
Key considerations
- Unique vs. Total Clicks: Distinguish between unique and total clicks to gauge actual engagement.
- IP Address Analysis: Examine IP addresses, especially internal ranges, to identify corporate security software activity.
- User Agent Verification: Check the user agent of the requests, look for patterns.
- MPP Segmentation: Segment Apple Mail users and analyze their engagement separately.
- Metric Monitoring: Monitor engagement metrics and adjust sending practices while understanding this may be artifical inflations.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit responds that corporate security software often clicks links in emails to check for malicious content. This can cause a large spike in clicks, particularly from internal IP ranges. Check IP addresses, user agents and timing of the clicks
15 May 2025 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from StackExchange explains that a sudden increase in bot clicks could be due to new email security measures implemented by recipient email providers. These systems automatically click links to check for malicious sites, resulting in inflated click-through rates. Check the user agent of the requests.
12 Aug 2022 - StackExchange
What the experts say
5 expert opinions
A sudden increase in bot click activity in email campaigns can be diagnosed by investigating several key areas. These include the presence of Apple desktop OS and Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), the user agent of the clicks, and the recipient domains. Identifying patterns in recipient domains, especially cloud-hosted domains, can provide insights. Analyzing IP addresses, User Agents, and the timing of clicks can also help identify suspicious patterns indicative of bot activity or click fraud. Reviewing data sourcing processes to ensure human-verified lead data can also reduce bot inclusion.
Key opinions
- Apple MPP: Apple desktop OS and MPP are factors to consider when analyzing click activity.
- Recipient Domain Analysis: Analyzing recipient domains can reveal patterns related to spam filters or hosting.
- Spam Filter Hosting: A significant portion of recipient domains being cloud-hosted at a single spam filter may indicate a pattern.
- IP/UA Investigation: Unusual locations/IPs and suspicious User Agents point toward bot activity or click fraud.
- Data Integrity: Data sourcing can add bots to the database
Key considerations
- User Agent Check: Always check the user agent and device behind the clicks.
- Pattern Identification: Identify potential patterns using domain analysis and filter tools.
- Click Time and Origin: Note when the clicks happened and where they came from.
- Human Verified Leads: Review your process and make sure that a human is filling in all of the lead data.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks offers to analyze the recipient domains to identify potential patterns using their filter tool.
4 Jun 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares that of the top 10 domains in Paul’s list, 8 of them are all cloud hosted at one spam filter.
27 Jun 2021 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
To combat sudden increases in bot click activity, resources describe how to use bot filtering in Google Analytics to exclude known bots and spiders, enhancing human engagement metrics. Cloudflare's bot management tools analyze HTTP requests, challenge suspicious traffic, and block malicious bots to improve analytics accuracy. Understanding the robots.txt exclusion protocol helps identify malicious bots ignoring it, contributing to unwanted clicks.
Key findings
- GA Bot Filtering: Google Analytics provides bot filtering to exclude known bots and spiders.
- Cloudflare Bot Management: Cloudflare analyzes HTTP requests and mitigates bot traffic effectively.
- Robots.txt Protocol: Understanding robots.txt helps identify malicious bots ignoring the protocol.
Key considerations
- Implementation: Implement bot filtering in Google Analytics to refine engagement metrics.
- Tool Utilization: Utilize Cloudflare's bot management for proactive bot identification and mitigation.
- Protocol Awareness: Use the presence of robots.txt to discern bots
Technical article
Documentation from IETF.org explains the robots.txt exclusion protocol. While primarily used for web crawling, understanding how bots are *supposed* to behave (respecting robots.txt) helps identify those that are malicious and disregard it, thus contributing to unwanted click activity.
10 Sep 2021 - IETF.org
Technical article
Documentation from Cloudflare describes their bot management tools, which analyze HTTP requests to identify and mitigate bot traffic. It includes methods for challenging suspicious traffic and blocking malicious bots to improve the accuracy of website and email campaign analytics.
23 Jan 2022 - Cloudflare
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