Open rates will be an unreliable metric and will skew significantly higher due to Apple fetching images from ESPs regardless of if the email was ever opened.

With the release of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection many traditional email metrics and strategies will be impacted and, in some cases, will no longer be usable. Mail Privacy Protection will not impact other email clients and apps used by Apple users such as Outlook app and the Gmail app. However, based on opt-ins for Apple’s recent iOS App Tracking Protection, it is anticipated that most users (85%+) will opt-in.įor Apple Mail users who opt-in for Mail Privacy Protection, this feature will be used across Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.) regardless of the email service used. They will be prompted to enable the new feature. Mail Privacy Protection will not be turned on by default when it is released as part of iOS 15, users will have to opt-in. This will impact other data typically collected, such as location and IP address. Additionally, when a user does actually open an email the images will be loaded from Apple’s cache. This causes the ESP to believe that the email was opened. The new feature works by requesting and loading all images in an email, such as the invisible tracking pixel, from the sender’s email service provider’s (ESP) server. Let’s explore how Mail Privacy Protection works, how it will impact marketers, and how you can prepare for this new feature. In June at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple announced Mail Privacy Protection, a new feature in the Mail app that will prevent email marketers from using invisible pixels to collect information from recipients. The digital marketing landscape is constantly changing and marketers need to be prepared for an upcoming shift that will disrupt email marketing.

Apple mail vs outlook app