What is the deliverability impact of non-HTTPS engagement tracking in email marketing?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from GMass highlights how secure emails are more likely to reach inboxes and that the implementation of HTTPS helps achieve this. Also states that using HTTPS is better in the long term to avoid security warnings and protect the privacy of the customer.
Email marketer from Litmus emphasises the importance of email security using HTTPS. By doing this it ensures a secure connection to prevent data breaches and improve the trust from consumers.
Email marketer from Sendinblue answers that while HTTPS is essential for data security, its absence can lead to decreased user trust and engagement. When users see that a website or email uses HTTP, it raises suspicion, leading them to interact less. Decreased interaction can lead to deliverability issues.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that while not directly stated as a ranking factor, using HTTPS helps build trust with users and ISPs. This trust indirectly improves deliverability by reducing bounce rates and increasing engagement.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that not using HTTPS can lead to mixed content warnings, affecting user trust and potentially causing browsers to block tracking pixels or images. This reduced engagement can signal to ISPs that the sender is less reputable, harming deliverability.
Email marketer from Email on Acid talks about the future of email and how email clients will favour secure emails which can only be done through the use of HTTPS. Also mentions how important it is for securing customer data and privacy. It mentions deliverability could be affected for those who do not adopt it
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that they haven’t been able to separate the impact of a sender not using HTTPS from other poor practices. They advise that the sender is grouping themselves with senders who don’t follow best practices. Zack also mentions that Chrome is moving away from showing mixed content (non-HTTPS images on an HTTPS page), implying Google's concern.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow states that using HTTPS for tracking links is essential for user trust and data integrity. Non-HTTPS tracking links can be easily intercepted and manipulated, leading to inaccurate data and potential security vulnerabilities, ultimately affecting deliverability.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that Chrome fetches HTTPS versions of HTTP URLs, so if the HTTPS equivalent of an image doesn't work, Chrome won't fetch anything, and tracking will fail. Will says it's hard to know what effect this has on inbox placement and that grown up vendors should be offering https.
Email marketer from Reddit answers that many email clients now default to blocking images served over HTTP. This means that if your tracking pixel is HTTP, it won't load for a significant portion of your audience, leading to skewed tracking data and potential deliverability issues if ISPs see low engagement.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that using HTTPS for all links, including tracking links, is increasingly important for deliverability. ISPs are starting to penalize senders who use HTTP links, as it's seen as a security risk. She emphasizes the need for secure tracking to maintain a good sender reputation.
Expert from Spamresource explains how using strong security protocols like HTTPS helps to protect emails from spam and phishing attacks. When HTTPS is not implemented, it makes the emails more vulnerable which makes the emails more likely to get marked as spam.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from OWASP highlights the various security risks with using HTTP like eavesdropping, man-in-the-middle attacks and tampering of data. This means sensitive data is more likely to be intercepted which impacts trust and deliverability.
Documentation from Mozilla Developer Network explains that modern browsers actively block mixed content to protect users. If email tracking pixels are served over HTTP on an HTTPS email, browsers may block them, leading to inaccurate tracking data and potentially affecting sender reputation.
Documentation from Google Developers explains that serving mixed content (non-HTTPS resources on an HTTPS page) can weaken the overall security of a website and negatively impact user experience. While focused on website SEO, the principles of user trust and security translate to email deliverability as well.
Documentation from RFC2818 highlights how HTTP over TLS (HTTPS) is crucial for authentication, confidentiality and data integrity when communicating. It helps prevent man-in-the-middle attacks which is crucial for a safe user experience.
Documentation from IETF details the security considerations for HTTP. It underscores the importance of using HTTPS to encrypt data in transit, preventing eavesdropping and data manipulation. This general principle supports the idea that secure practices across all web communication, including email, improve overall reputation.