Why are email click rates inflated and how to solve the issue?

Inflated email click rates are a multifaceted problem arising from bot activity (including Microsoft's link-following bots and security software), Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), internal tracking errors, faulty campaign setups, mobile device interactions, and email client preview panes. Bot detection is complex and requires constant adaptation. Solutions involve analyzing metadata, IP addresses, user agents, click patterns, and request patterns to identify and filter bot clicks. Implementing bot management solutions, segmenting email lists based on engagement, auditing tracking parameters, cleaning email lists regularly, optimizing email design for mobile devices, and utilizing reverse DNS lookups can help. Focusing on engagement metrics beyond opens and clicks, such as reply rates, forward rates, and conversions, offers a more accurate performance assessment.

Inflated email click rates are a common issue stemming from various sources, primarily bot activity, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), internal tracking errors, and mobile device interactions. Bots, including security software, automatically click links, inflating metrics. MPP inflates open rates, affecting click-through rates. Faulty tracking links, incorrect setups, small mobile screens, and email client preview panes also contribute. Solutions include analyzing metadata, IP addresses, and user agents to identify bot clicks, utilizing bot detection features, segmenting email lists based on engagement, auditing tracking parameters, cleaning email lists regularly, and optimizing email design for mobile devices. Focusing on engagement metrics beyond just opens and clicks also provides a more accurate picture.

Inflated email click rates are influenced by several factors, including Microsoft's increased link-following behavior, the complexity of bot detection, and the need for comprehensive engagement metrics. Microsoft's bots target senders, artificially inflating clicks. Bot detection requires constant adaptation due to evolving bot technologies, emphasizing the importance of analyzing click patterns and user behavior. To mitigate the impact of inflated rates, it's recommended to focus on engagement metrics beyond just opens and clicks, such as reply, forward, and conversion rates, to gain a more accurate performance assessment.

Email click rates are often inflated due to bot traffic. Solutions involve identifying and filtering non-human clicks by analyzing IP addresses, user agents, click patterns, and request patterns. Bot management solutions, such as those offered by Cloudflare, can be employed. Google Analytics provides bot filtering features to exclude known bot IPs and user agents from website analytics. Additionally, reverse DNS lookups can identify bots by examining hostname patterns associated with their IP addresses.