How does Gmail's image proxy affect email open tracking and what could cause very fast opens?

Email marketer from SparkPost shares that security filters and bots will follow links, including image links in emails, to evaluate the safety of the URL, triggering opens very shortly after delivery.

Email marketer from Reddit shares that Gmail's image proxy makes open tracking unreliable, resulting in skewed and inflated open rates because images are loaded by Google's servers before the recipient views the email.

Email marketer from SendGrid states that using a dedicated IP address and monitoring sender reputation may mitigate the impact of image proxying on open rates, as it allows you to isolate and manage your sending behavior.

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign shares that open rates are becoming a less reliable metric due to privacy measures like Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and image caching. Recommends focusing on other metrics such as clicks and conversions for more accurate insights.

Email marketer from Stackoverflow answers that very fast opens can be attributed to bots scanning the email, pre-fetching images for security checks, which can inflate open rates. This is often done within seconds of the email being delivered.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that they have seen numerous unique IPs using the Gmail Proxy globally. They also mention reports of potential image pre-fetching when devices are charging and on Wi-Fi, but have been unable to replicate this consistently, believing that if pre-fetching does occur, it accounts for a small percentage of total opens.

Email marketer from Hubspot explains that quick opens are often caused by email security filters scanning the email for malicious content, including loading images, and this can register as an open even if the recipient hasn't opened the email.

Email marketer from EmailOnAcid shares that Gmail's proxy server downloads images before the user opens the email, skewing open rates because the server 'opens' the email. This makes tracking opens based on image pixels unreliable for Gmail users.

Email marketer from Mailchimp support explains that because of image caching by Gmail, open rates may appear higher than reality. This is because the proxy servers open the image which can result in open tracking not being accurate for Gmail users.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that the Google proxy obfuscates the recipient's IP address and may only show the initial read. She suggests that the recorded opens may be legitimate and caused by filters following links to determine URL safety.

Expert from Wordtothewise.com shares that automated bot clicks and scans from security systems can cause very fast opens, artificially inflating open rates and distorting engagement metrics.

Expert from Spamresource.com explains that Gmail's image proxy caches images, leading to skewed open rates as Google's servers, not the recipients, download the images, causing inaccurate open tracking.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that Gmail doesn't preload images until the email is opened. If links are being followed quickly, she suggests investigating the reputation of the click tracking domain.

Documentation from Litmus explains that Gmail uses a proxy to load images. This leads to inflated open rates as the proxy server loads the images instead of the actual recipient, therefore distorting open tracking metrics.

Documentation from RFC explains that proper SPF and DKIM authentication can reduce the likelihood of emails being flagged and scanned rapidly, as ISPs trust authenticated emails more, reducing the need for aggressive pre-fetch scans.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that 'Safe Links' in Microsoft Defender scans URLs in emails to protect users. This process can pre-fetch images, resulting in early opens.

Documentation from Google Support explains that Gmail caches images to improve user experience, which can lead to multiple 'opens' being recorded when the image is served from the cache, even if the user hasn't actually re-opened the email.