[Updated] Gmail’s New Open Tracking Changes: What You Need to Know (and Do!)

Vlad Oleksiienko 02 Sep 2024

Lately, Gmail users have been facing a new issue in their inboxes.

You might have noticed popups saying things like, “Images in this message are hidden. This message might be suspicious or spam.” And even more concerning, there’s now a big “Report spam” button that makes it easy for people to mark emails as unwanted.

So, what’s going on?

The initial concern is something known as an “open tracking pixel.” This is a tiny, invisible image (just 1×1 pixel) attached to emails sent through cold outreach or email tracking tools. When the email is opened, the pixel loads and signals that the message has been viewed.

But that’s not all.

It turns out that the issue isn’t just about open tracking pixels. Regular images in emails can also trigger the same warning messages or cause emails to be marked as suspicious. However, it’s important to note that having open tracking or images in an email doesn’t guarantee that the email will always be flagged—sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t.

At Reply.io, we’ve been researching this issue closely.

We conducted a study by sending emails with open tracking or images to newly created Gmail accounts, as well as accounts with an established history. Our findings confirmed that both open tracking and images can, at times, cause emails to be marked as suspicious. Interestingly, we observed that paid GSuite accounts are more likely to flag such emails as spam, especially when open tracking or images are involved. However, this doesn’t happen in 100% of cases.

To summarize, open tracking pixels or pictures in emails can increase the risk of being flagged as suspicious or sent to spam, but it’s not a guaranteed outcome. The issue is more complex and depends on various factors, such as the type of Gmail account and email history.

What you can do now

If you want to make sure your emails keep reaching the right people and don’t get flagged as suspicious, here are some possible actions to consider. These recommendations are not sequential steps, but rather options that you can choose from based on your specific needs.

Turn off open tracking

Stop using open tracking in your email outreach or sequencing tools.

Our data shows that people using Reply.io without open tracking are getting 1.3 to 2 times more replies than those who do track opens. By turning off open tracking, you’ll reduce the chances of your emails being flagged.

Remove images from your emails

This means taking out things like signatures, logos, and any other images. With Google’s new policy, even these can make your emails look suspicious.

Enable link tracking

Instead of using open tracking, try using link tracking to see who’s clicking on links to your website or documents.

However, please note that while link tracking helps monitor engagement and shows if people click on your links, it can also impact deliverability because it wraps your real link and creates a suspicious redirect from the tracking link to the final link. Additionally, link tracking will not work if you enable a ‘Plain text’ mode.

You can check these clicks in Reply.io reports to get a sense of how engaged your recipients are.

Consider switching to ‘Plain text’ mode

Reply.io offers an advanced “plain text” mode that removes all HTML formatting, images, and tracking links, sending your emails as pure text.

This can really boost your deliverability. In fact, Reply.io users say that using plain text mode has doubled their reply rates!

Focus on reply rates

If you’re doing cold outreach—reaching out to people who might not know about your service or product—a good goal is a 5-10% reply rate.

Even a 3-5% reply rate is considered pretty solid.

Try multichannel outreach

Don’t just rely on email.

Mix things up by reaching out on other channels like LinkedIn. With Reply.io’s LinkedIn automation feature, you can easily connect with prospects on that platform too, which helps you stay visible and boosts your chances of conversion.

Pro tip: If you want to learn more about using different outreach channels, check out our Multichannel Cold Outreach Course.

Apply changes to your Reply account

How Reply.io is tackling the problem

At Reply.io, we’re all about helping you adapt to these changes.

We’re working on a new way to track engagement that goes way beyond just open rates. This new approach will combine things like click tracking, spam rates, bounce rates, and reply rates (when someone is actually interested).

It’ll give you a clearer, more complete picture of how your emails are really doing.

Plus, we’re brainstorming some cool new features to help boost your multichannel outreach, so your emails keep landing in the right inboxes and getting real responses.

What you should do next

We’re keeping a close watch on these changes and tweaking our tools as we go.

In the meantime, it’s a good idea to stay in the loop and be ready to switch up your email strategies as needed. The online world is always changing, and staying ahead means being flexible and planning ahead.

Here at Reply.io, we’re here to help you succeed, no matter what comes up.

Keep an eye out for updates on our new tracking metric and other exciting tools we’re cooking up to make your outreach even more effective!