Why am I seeing spam filter clicks with Hotmail and Outlook.com?

Email marketer from Validity explains that Microsoft Defender Safe Links scans every link for safety issues, artificially inflating click rates. These initial clicks are due to Microsoft's automated systems validating the URLs, so filtering these out is key.

Email marketer from SendGrid discusses that Microsoft's Safe Link feature rewrites and checks links in emails before delivery, which can cause artificial clicks. This is because Microsoft is verifying links for potential threats.

Email marketer from GMass shares that Outlook aggressively checks links for phishing and malware. It also explains that this process results in inflated click rates as their automated scanning is registered as clicks.

Email marketer from Litmus explains that some email clients, including Outlook, pre-fetch links for security, which can trigger early clicks. These are designed to check the validity and safety of the links before the recipient interacts with them.

Email marketer from Stack Overflow shares that Microsoft employs systems to verify the links within emails. This verification process can often be misidentified as a click, artificially inflating click rates.

Email marketer from EmailVendorSelection.com explains that Outlook is notorious for aggressive bot detection, which can lead to false clicks. These clicks are often a result of Microsoft's systems checking links in emails to ensure they are safe for users, especially those with Safe Links enabled.

Email marketer from Reddit shares that Microsoft's Safe Links feature scans emails for malicious content, which may result in premature or 'fake' clicks before a recipient views the email. These clicks are due to Microsoft automatically checking links for safety purposes.

Email marketer from HubSpot notes that security scans by email providers like Microsoft can trigger false clicks. This is due to the email provider scanning links within the email to check for threats, registering as a click in tracking.

Email marketer from EmailGeeks explains that Microsoft implements systems that provide click protection. This often involves checking links before they're clicked by a user, which results in premature clicks being registered.

Email marketer from Mailjet responds that Microsoft Safe Links scans every link in your emails for safety, artificially inflating click rates. These initial clicks are due to Microsoft's automated systems validating the URLs.

Expert from Email Geeks shares that lots of people are seeing non-human interaction from Microsoft recipients. They seem to be targeting chunks of network space, apparently randomly and assumes they are testing something.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that Microsoft actively checks links in emails, and they have seen their reputation systems respond to this activity. Microsoft is aggressively scanning links for malicious activity before the user even has a chance to click. This link checking can trigger false clicks that are registered in your system.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that Microsoft appears to be testing something since last November and going through and picking ESPs / senders to follow all the links on.

Expert from Spam Resource explains that Microsoft's Safe Links feature is known to pre-scan links in emails, resulting in what appear to be spam filter clicks. This feature rewrites URLs and analyzes them for malicious content before a user clicks on them, causing click tracking systems to register these checks as actual clicks.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that Advanced Threat Protection features in Microsoft 365, including Safe Links, may automatically check URLs in emails. This process leads to early clicks recorded by tracking software, as Microsoft's system is actively verifying the link.

Documentation from Proofpoint shares that URL Defense, a security feature, rewrites URLs and scans them when clicked to protect against phishing and malware. It explains that this could result in initial clicks that are not user-initiated.

Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that Safe Links is a feature in Exchange Online that provides URL scanning and rewriting of inbound email messages. This helps protect users from inadvertently clicking malicious links as Microsoft proactively verifies URLs.