Act-On adds an invisible tracking pixel to outbound email so it can record when a recipient opens a message. If you need to stop that pixel from going out, for example because of consent rules that apply to your recipients, an account admin can turn it off for your whole account.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand
- Where: Custom Account Settings > Security and Policy > Suppress Email Tracking Pixel. Requires admin access.
- What it does: Stops the open-tracking pixel on every email sent from the platform, whether it's a regular bulk send or a transactional/triggered send. No account-wide exceptions by segment or send type.
- What it doesn't do: It does not zero out open counts. Act-On counts a click as an open, so anyone who clicks a link is still recorded as opening. Only "opened but never clicked" activity disappears from reporting.
- Timing: Forward-looking only. Messages sent before you enable it keep whatever tracking they were built with. Historical opens stay in reports.
- Downstream effects: Segments and program branches based on opens still fire for contacts who clicked. They stop firing for contacts whose only signal was a pixel-based open.
- Click tracking: Unaffected. It's a separate mechanism from the open pixel.
What the setting does
Every email Act-On sends normally includes a hidden pixel. When a recipient opens the email, the pixel loads and Act-On logs it as an open. Turning this setting on removes that pixel from every email sent from the platform, whether it's a regular bulk send or a transactional or triggered send.
It's an account-wide switch. There's no way to scope it to one segment, one send, or one country's contacts. It's on for everyone or off for everyone.
What it doesn't do
This is the part that trips people up: turning the pixel off does not bring your open counts to zero.
Act-On treats a click as proof of an open. If a contact clicks any link in a message, they're recorded as having opened it, whether or not the pixel loaded. That rule doesn't depend on this setting at all, so it keeps applying whether the pixel is on or off.
What the pixel setting actually removes is a narrower slice of data: opens that would only ever have been detected through the pixel, meaning a contact opened the email but never clicked a link in it. Once the pixel is off, that specific signal stops getting recorded. Opens tied to a click keep showing up exactly as before.
Turn it on
This requires admin access. Follow these steps to disable the pixel for your account.
- Go to Custom Account Settings.
- Open Security and Policy.
- Find Suppress Email Tracking Pixel and switch it on.
The change takes effect on your next send. Messages you've already sent aren't touched, and the open data already recorded for them stays exactly as it is in your reports.
What to know before you turn it on
Open data feeds several other features. Because a click still counts as an open, the effect on these features is smaller than it might look at first, but it's worth understanding before you flip the switch.
Segments. A segment built on "opened this email" will keep including contacts who clicked a link. It will stop including contacts whose only activity was a pixel-based open, since that signal no longer exists.
Automated Programs. A program branch that checks for an open behaves the same way. Contacts who click still take the "opened" path. Contacts who would have only registered a pixel-based open now take the "did not open" path instead.
There's no way to keep the pixel active for internal use, like list hygiene, while hiding it from customer-facing reports. The setting affects every use of open data across the account the same way.
Confirm it worked
Send yourself a test email after turning the setting on, then open it without clicking any links inside it. Check the Sent report a little later. That open shouldn't show up, since it had no click behind it and the pixel that would have caught it is gone.
If you click a link in that same test email, the open will still show up. That's expected. Don't use a zero open count as your test. Use an open with no click.
Frequently asked questions
Will my open counts drop to zero once I turn this on?
No. Any contact who clicks a link in your email is still recorded as having opened it, regardless of this setting. Only opens with no click behind them stop being recorded.
Does this affect click tracking too?
No. Click tracking is a separate mechanism and isn't touched by this setting. If you're comparing numbers, keep in mind the dashboard's click figure counts unique contacts, while the exported click report lists one row per contact per link clicked, so the two won't always match.
Can I turn this on for just my contacts in one country?
No. The setting applies to your whole account. There's no way to scope it by recipient, segment, or country.
Will this change my existing reports?
No. Open data you've already collected stays exactly as it is. The setting only affects sends that go out after you turn it on.
If I turn it off later, does the pixel come back right away?
Yes. Turning the setting off restores the pixel starting with your next send. Like enabling it, this only applies going forward, never retroactively.
Can recipients opt in or out of tracking individually?
No. This is an account-level control, not a per-recipient consent tool.
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