True Open uses AI to spot the opens and clicks that were generated by bots, security scanners, and privacy proxies rather than by real people. You see the impact on the True Open Impact tab of the Email Performance Liveboard, and you use it to read your email metrics with cleaner eyes.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand
- Access: Reports > Analytics > Email Performance Liveboard > True Open Impact tab.
- Three categories: Person, Security System, Privacy System.
- Filter the tab with any of the standard Email Performance filters to compare impact by campaign, sender, or segment.
- Coverage: True Open data is available from January 2024.
True Open Impact tab
The Email Performance Liveboard includes a True Open Impact tab. It answers one question: how much are my email metrics affected by security and privacy systems?
To open it, go to Reports > Analytics > Email Performance Liveboard and click the True Open Impact tab.
| Category | Includes |
| Person | Opens and clicks by the email recipient (the receiving person). |
| Security System | Opens and clicks by spam appliances and link checkers, commonly known as bots. These systems protect recipients from threats such as malware, phishing, and other security risks. |
| Privacy System | Opens by privacy systems, also called proxy opens. The receiving mail server pre-loads all content for faster delivery and to mask the user's email behaviour. Apple Mail Privacy Protection is the most common source of Privacy System opens. |
The Liveboard supports the standard Email Performance filters, so you can see impact at a more detailed level by campaign, sender, segment, or any of the other filters.
Understanding True Open
Opens and clicks by security and privacy systems don't mean a person never received or engaged with the email. They confirm that the email was delivered to an active, functioning inbox. What they affect is the reporting side.
From a marketer's perspective, security and privacy systems inflate key email metrics and skew results. They can also reduce the accuracy of lead scoring and affect automated workflows. Reading True Open alongside your standard metrics gives you a cleaner picture of human engagement.
Keep in mind that email security and privacy systems are constantly evolving, and some open and click activity will always be difficult to categorise with certainty. True Open is designed to adapt to these changes, but it can't guarantee 100% accuracy.