Can images in emails cause them to go to spam?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from StackOverflow warns that using CID (Content-ID) images, especially if improperly implemented, can be flagged as suspicious and lead to deliverability problems.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that the text on an image can impact spam filters by changing image attributes.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests that if images are hosted on domains with poor reputations, this can lead to emails being marked as spam.
Email marketer from GMass shares that using tracking pixels or very small images can be used to track email opens. Some spam filters are specifically designed to detect and penalize the use of tracking pixels.
Email marketer from HubSpot shares that missing or irrelevant alt text for images can negatively impact deliverability, as it makes the email seem less legitimate to spam filters.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that background images in emails, while visually appealing, can sometimes cause rendering issues across different email clients. This inconsistency might raise red flags with spam filters.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign answers that while personalized images can be great for engagement, they need to be implemented carefully. Using too many unique images in a single campaign may impact sender reputation if it appears like you're trying to evade filters.
Email marketer from Sendinblue explains that emails with a high image-to-text ratio can increase spam scores, as spammers often rely heavily on images to convey their message.
Email marketer from Mailchimp explains that very large images can trigger spam filters because they can slow down email loading times and appear suspicious.
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that broken images can make an email look unprofessional and potentially trigger spam filters, as they indicate poor attention to detail and might be associated with malicious content.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor shares that unoptimized images (large file sizes, incorrect dimensions) can affect loading times and cause frustration. This can lead to lower engagement, which might indirectly impact deliverability.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that linking directly to images hosted on a server, rather than embedding them in the email, can be problematic. Many email clients block external image loading by default, and depending on how it's implemented it could raise deliverability flags.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that anything in the email is evaluated by machine learning (ML) filters.
Expert from Spam Resource highlights that failing to provide descriptive alt tags for images makes your emails inaccessible to users with disabilities and those who have images turned off by default. Neglecting accessibility best practices can negatively impact your sender reputation and potentially trigger spam filters.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that if an image is hosted on a domain with poor reputation, it could cause emails to go to spam.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that there is rarely any one thing that causes mail to go to spam, and anything in the email is evaluated, including HTML code.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that using excessively large images in emails, without proper optimization, can contribute to triggering spam filters. Large images slow down loading times and negatively affect user experience, which is a factor considered by some filters.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from Google explains that exceeding spam rate thresholds can negatively impact deliverability. Using images in a way that triggers spam filters contributes to the overall spam rate.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that their Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) uses content filters to identify potentially unwanted emails, and images are a part of this analysis. The properties of the images can contribute to the overall spam score.
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that the structure and content of the email body, including how images are embedded, are scrutinized by email servers. Improperly formatted images can lead to parsing errors and potential spam classification.