How do Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) affect click tracking in email marketing?

Summary

Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) primarily affects email open rates by preloading images, rendering them unreliable for accurate tracking. Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) limits cross-site tracking, impacting the ability to track users across multiple websites after they click a link, but does not directly block click tracking within emails. Experts and marketers recommend a shift in focus from open rates to more reliable metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, website traffic, and engagement metrics like click-to-open rates (CTOR). Strategies to adapt include leveraging behavioral data for personalization, A/B testing, focusing on engagement-based list segmentation, and building privacy-centric solutions like contextual advertising. Proper cookie consent is crucial for any cross-site tracking. Registering click tracking domains is generally unnecessary.

Key findings

  • MPP Impact on Open Rates: MPP renders open rates unreliable due to image preloading, leading to inflated metrics.
  • ITP's Cross-Site Tracking Limitation: ITP limits the ability to track users across different websites after they click on an email link, impacting behavioral tracking.
  • Shift to Alternative Metrics: The industry recommends focusing on click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, website traffic, and engagement metrics as more reliable indicators of email campaign performance.
  • Importance of Personalization and Segmentation: Leveraging behavioral data for personalization and engaging in list segmentation based on observed user behavior can improve relevance and effectiveness.
  • Cookie Consent: Cookie consent is essential for cross-site tracking, highlighting the importance of adhering to privacy regulations.

Key considerations

  • Prioritize Click Tracking: Pay closer attention to click tracking as a key indicator of engagement and interest in email content.
  • Implement A/B Testing: Use A/B testing to optimize email campaigns and identify successful strategies in the new privacy landscape.
  • Leverage CTOR: Utilize click-to-open rates (CTOR) to gain insights into content relevance and effectiveness, even when open rates are skewed.
  • Focus on Privacy-Centric Solutions: Explore privacy-centric solutions like contextual advertising and aggregated data analysis to reduce reliance on individual user tracking.
  • Re-evaluate and Monitor Metrics: Continuously re-evaluate which metrics to monitor and focus on to adapt to changes in the email marketing landscape.

What email marketers say
12Marketer opinions

Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) primarily affects open rates by preloading images, rendering them unreliable. Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) limits cross-site tracking but does not directly block click tracking within emails. As a result, marketers are advised to shift focus from open rates to click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, website traffic, and engagement metrics. Strategies such as leveraging behavioral data for personalization, A/B testing, and focusing on click-to-open rates (CTOR) can help mitigate the impact of these privacy measures. Registering click tracking domains is generally not necessary unless specifically related to services like 'Sign in with Apple'.

Key opinions

  • MPP Impact: MPP mainly inflates open rates due to image preloading.
  • ITP Scope: ITP limits cross-site tracking, but does not directly block click tracking in emails.
  • Metric Shift: Marketers should focus on click-through rates, conversion rates, and engagement metrics instead of open rates.
  • Registration: Registering click tracking domains is typically unnecessary.

Key considerations

  • Personalization: Leverage behavioral data for personalized email content.
  • A/B Testing: Implement A/B testing to optimize email campaigns and strategies.
  • CTOR: Focus on click-to-open rates (CTOR) to measure engagement.
  • Engagement: Segment audiences based on engagement to improve relevance.
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks clarifies that 'click tracking pixel' is not a thing, but an 'open tracking pixel' is, which is just an image affected by MPP. Click tracking is done via URLs within the email and isn't impacted by MPP or ITP.

June 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendinblue explains that email marketers need to adapt their strategies by focusing on engagement metrics beyond open rates, such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and website traffic. Segmenting audiences based on click behavior can provide more accurate insights into subscriber engagement.

February 2024 - Sendinblue
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Uplers shares that ITP's primary goal is to limit cross-site tracking. It achieves this by restricting the lifespan of cookies and preventing certain types of data collection. While ITP doesn't directly block click tracking within an email, it can affect the ability to track users across multiple websites after they click a link in the email, thus limiting the scope of behavioral tracking.

August 2021 - Email Uplers
Marketer view

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor shares how to focus on click-to-open rates (CTOR) as a reliable measure of engagement. CTOR can provide insights into content relevance and effectiveness, even when open rates are skewed by MPP.

August 2024 - Campaign Monitor
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that MPP has no relevance when it comes to clicks; MPP preloads and caches images. ITP is a Safari feature to prevent cross-site tracking and does not impact URLs clicked in emails.

March 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Neil Patel shares the importance of click-through rates, making sure you are A/B testing your strategies, and overall focusing on conversion rates and sales. Neil Patel also says that now is the time to stop obsessing over open rates.

March 2022 - Neil Patel
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign focuses on leveraging behavioral data to segment and personalize emails. This approach can mitigate the impact of MPP by delivering targeted content to engaged subscribers and improving the overall customer experience.

June 2023 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view

Email marketer from GMass states that MPP has rendered open rates an unreliable metric for cold emailing campaigns. Marketers should now focus on reply rates and conversions as primary indicators of success. Additionally, personalization and relevant content become even more critical to drive engagement in the absence of accurate open data.

November 2021 - GMass
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot focuses on the importance of focusing on click-through rates, website visits, and attributed revenue. They also indicate the importance of list segmentation by focusing on engagement. By observing user behavior and segmenting lists accordingly, marketers can maintain relevance and effectiveness.

May 2023 - HubSpot
Marketer view

Email marketer from SuperOffice shares that MPP has made open rates unreliable, so focusing on click-through rates (CTR) becomes even more critical. CTR indicates genuine engagement and interest in the email's content, offering a more accurate representation of campaign performance.

October 2024 - SuperOffice
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet shares that due to Apple's MPP skewing metrics, one method is to focus on click-through rates, conversion rates, and ROI to measure campaign effectiveness. A/B testing can now provide more insights into what strategies are working.

March 2022 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks answers question about registering click tracking domains by stating if they client uses "Sign in with Apple" and they are asking "do I need to register our click tracking domain like we had to do with our ReturnPath domain" then the answer is no. You only need to register your sending domain, not every single domain included in the body of the emails.

December 2024 - Email Geeks

What the experts say
3Expert opinions

MPP primarily impacts open rates by preloading images, thus not directly affecting click tracking itself. However, the rise of MPP necessitates a shift in focus towards click tracking as a more reliable engagement metric. The significant adoption of MPP by Apple Mail users means open rates are becoming increasingly unreliable, prompting marketers to re-evaluate which metrics to prioritize.

Key opinions

  • MPP Impact: MPP primarily affects open rates, not click tracking directly.
  • Metric Shift: Click tracking is a more reliable engagement indicator due to MPP.
  • Adoption Rate: MPP is widely adopted, impacting open rates significantly.

Key considerations

  • Focus on Clicks: Prioritize click tracking analysis for email campaign performance.
  • Re-evaluate Metrics: Identify and monitor alternative metrics in response to unreliable open rates.
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that the Apple MPP rollout is a big deal that could cause about 90% of Apple Mail users to have privacy protection on. Therefore we should see a massive drop in open rates on any list. He then states that one needs to be thinking about which metrics should be monitored and focused on instead.

December 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks states that MPP is about when images are loaded, and has nothing to do with clicks.

May 2021 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that with the rise of MPP, it's smart to pay more attention to clicks. They're still a pretty reliable action and can offer a more detailed picture of what's capturing people's interest, even with the changes in open rates.

October 2021 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
5Technical articles

MPP primarily affects email open rates by preloading images, leading to inaccurate open metrics. ITP limits cross-site tracking through cookie restrictions but does not directly block click tracking within emails. The industry is moving towards privacy-centric solutions like contextual advertising and aggregated data analysis. Obtaining cookie consent is vital for tracking users across websites. These changes require email marketers to adapt by focusing on click-through rates and conversion metrics as more reliable measures of engagement.

Key findings

  • MPP Impact: MPP inflates email open rates due to image preloading.
  • ITP Scope: ITP limits cross-site tracking, but doesn't directly block click tracking.
  • Cookie Consent: Cookie consent is necessary for tracking users across websites.
  • Privacy Solutions: Industry is moving towards privacy-centric advertising solutions.

Key considerations

  • Metric Focus: Shift focus to click-through rates and conversion metrics.
  • Adapt Strategies: Adapt email marketing strategies to privacy-focused landscape.
  • Respect Consent: Ensure proper cookie consent for tracking.
Technical article

Documentation from IAB Tech Lab explains that the industry should focus on building privacy-centric solutions, like contextual advertising and aggregated data analysis. These approaches reduce the reliance on individual user tracking and provide a more sustainable model for digital advertising.

May 2021 - IAB Tech Lab
Technical article

Documentation from Braze indicates that MPP impacts email metrics, primarily open rates. With MPP enabled, Apple Mail pre-loads email content, including tracking pixels, which results in inflated open rates. Braze recommends focusing on click-through rates and conversion rates as more reliable engagement metrics.

May 2024 - Braze
Technical article

Documentation from Litmus explains that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) impacts email marketing by preventing marketers from accurately tracking email opens. This is because MPP loads all images, including tracking pixels, through a proxy server, masking the user's IP address and location. While it primarily affects open rates, the lack of reliable open data can indirectly affect click tracking analysis by making it harder to segment and target audiences effectively.

June 2023 - Litmus
Technical article

Documentation from EDPB highlights that cookie consent is crucial for tracking users across websites. ITP and similar measures reduce the effectiveness of cookies for long-term tracking without explicit consent. This impacts the ability to attribute website conversions and actions directly to email clicks.

February 2023 - EDPB
Technical article

Documentation from Webkit.org explains that ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention) is a feature in Safari that reduces cross-site tracking by limiting the lifespan of cookies and other website data. It does not directly block click tracking links in emails but reduces the ability to track users across different websites after they click a link.

March 2024 - Webkit.org