If anti-spam appliances or preview bots are inflating your click numbers on the "View in Browser" link, you can tell Act-On to stop counting those clicks entirely. Turning on the setting gives you a cleaner picture of who is actually engaging with your emails.
Who does this: Act-On Administrator
Time needed: About 1 minute
Why this matters: Scanning services such as Barracuda Email Security Suite click the first link of an email to check it for threats, and that link is often "View in Browser." Those automated clicks are recorded as real engagement, which inflates your click rate and can feed false scores into Lead Scoring and Hot Prospects. Ignoring them keeps reporting, scoring, and segmentation honest.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand
- Go to Settings > Other Settings > Custom Account Settings > Labs.
- Toggle on Ignore clicks on 'View in Browser' link.
- Takes effect for new reports only. Existing Sent Message Reports are not updated.
- Pair with Ignore Activity from Known IP Addresses for broader bot filtering.
Try it like this: Open Settings > Other Settings > Custom Account Settings > Labs, flip the Ignore clicks on 'View in Browser' link switch on, and your next Sent Message Report will exclude any clicks on that link.
What you need before you start
- Act-On administrator access. The Custom Account Settings area is only available to admin users.
- A reason to expect bot clicks. If your click rates look normal, you don't need this on.
How to turn it on
- In Act-On, go to Settings > Other Settings > Custom Account Settings.
- Open the Labs tab.
- Toggle Ignore clicks on 'View in Browser' link to the on position.
Note: The change only applies going forward. Reports that have already recorded "View in Browser" clicks will continue to show them.
Common pitfalls
- Expecting historical reports to update. The toggle is not retroactive.
- Removing the "View in Browser" link from your email header to solve the same problem. This hurts your recipients who rely on the link and doesn't address the underlying bot activity. Use the toggle instead.
- Assuming this alone will fix all inflated clicks. If bots are clicking other links too, also ignore their IP ranges. See Ignore Activity from Known IP Addresses and False Opt-Outs & Email Clicks.
What you've unlocked: Your Sent Message Reports will stop counting View in Browser clicks from bots, giving you a cleaner signal in click rates and downstream lead scores. If you still see suspicious activity, the next step is to filter by IP address in Ignore Activity from Known IP Addresses.