Enhancing Data Accuracy: Bot Filtering & Apple Mail Privacy Protection Compliance

Dear Marketers,

 

The wait is over! We’re thrilled to share that the enhanced bot filtering feature is now live in Zoho Marketing Automation. Thank you for your patience as we refined this tool to deliver deeper insights into your campaign performance.

 

Here's a quick overview of what bot filtering means:

 

What are bot opens/clicks? 

Bot opens/clicks are actions performed by automated software, not humans. These programs often scan emails for security threats like viruses or malicious links. As a result, they can inflate your engagement metrics by showing multiple opens/clicks from a single contact, even if no one actually interacted with the email.

 

Why bot filtering matters 

Bot-generated activity can distort your campaign performance metrics. Our bot filtering feature helps you eliminate this noise, providing a more accurate picture of your audience's engagement.

 

Key features of bot filtering

Based on your feedback and our technical improvements, here’s how the feature has evolved:

• Easy toggle: Enable or disable bot filtering with a simple switch in Settings > Marketing Channels> Email. Bot filtering will be enabled by default to ensure your reports prioritize reliable, human-generated engagement from the start.

• Transparency: A visual indicator in your reports shows whether bot filtering is active, ensuring full transparency in your data analysis.

• Reporting: Whether you enable or disable the filter, your dashboard will display two distinct metrics:

• Reliable opens/clicks (verified engagement by individuals)

• Bot opens/clicks (automated activity)
  This dual view offers a clearer picture of your campaign’s true performance and highlights potential discrepancies.

• Apple MPP tracking: We’ve added visibility into Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) activity. Reports now include a dedicated metric for Apple MPP opens, allowing you to analyze how privacy-focused auto-opens impact your data.

  

Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP)

Apple Mail offers users the option to enable Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), a feature designed to enhance privacy by preventing email senders from accurately tracking email opens. This feature is not enabled by default, but once activated, Apple Mail pre-loads tracking pixels—regardless of whether the recipient actually opens the email.

As a result, all emails received in Apple Mail appear as opened, leading to inflated and unreliable open rates. Since tracking pixels are triggered automatically, distinguishing between genuine user engagement and automated activity becomes challenging.

How Does Zoho Marketing Automation Address This?  

To counteract the impact of MPP, Zoho Marketing Automation provides dedicated metrics (MPP Opens) to show open rate. Using intelligent data modeling, our system delivers reliable engagement metrics, helping you assess the effectiveness of your campaigns despite Apple’s privacy changes.

Here's how to enable the bot filtering option in Zoho Marketing Automation.

Step 1: Bot filtering option

Locate the Bot Filter link under Settings > Marketing Channels.

Step 2: Toggle the bot filtering option

In the Bot Filter setting, you can see that bot filtering capability has been enabled for you by default.
 

Step 3: Enable/disable the option

• Filter enabled: Your primary reports will focus on human engagement, while bot activity is shown separately along with primary reports.

• Filter disabled: Similar to the option above, all opens/clicks (human + bot) will be shown in main reports, with bot metrics still visible for comparison.

Here's how you can see it in the campaign reports:
When the bot filter setting is disabled



When the bot filter setting is enabled

Step 4: Pop-up confirmation to disable bot filtering

You'll see a pop-up while disabling bot filtering.



 

Notes:

• While disabling bot filter, users will be prompted whether to allow bots to enter segments or workflows based on which follow-up actions will be triggered.

 

1. The Apple MPP opens will be part of segments and workflows by default.

2. Campaigns executed from 6th Feb 2025 will be shown the new reports along with reliable opens, Unreliable opens, and bot opens. Existing campaign reports won't be impacted by this change.

3. We have introduced new filters within the contacts section in the campaigns report to analyze both reliable opens and bot opens.
   

4. Bot engagement metrics will be available now while exporting campaign reports.
   

5. Users can track when the bot filter was enabled or disabled by accessing Audit Logs.
   
   

We're here to help

We’re confident this balanced approach will help you optimize campaigns with greater precision. Give it a try, and let us know how it works for you!

 

Happy marketing!

Best regards,
Zoho Marketing Automation

• Topic Participants

• Moncy Samuel

  

• Rich Brandwein

  

• Nagaraj S

  

• Ron Kulik

• Jeshua Edward

  

• Sticky Posts

• Marketer’s Space - Automating CRM Actions with Journeys – Part 2

  Hello marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space. In our previous post, we explored how CRM actions in Journeys help marketing and sales teams work together by nurturing CRM leads and pushing only engaged prospects back to sales. If you

• Introducing automation and utility conversations in WhatsApp marketing

  We’re excited to announce the addition of two new features to our WhatsApp integration: Automation and Utility conversations. These enhancements will allow you to streamline your marketing efforts and engage with your customers more effectively by automating

• Tip of the week 02 - The art of 'seeing' your leads

  What's the last page that your lead visited before signing up for your brand? What was the page that first convinced your lead to explore more about you? Where are your leads coming in from? Well, these are some perennial questions today's marketers live upon. And, knowing the answers to these questions is crucial, considering the vitality of leads in every business. In the journey of finding lead opportunities, it's important to understand that every detail about a lead is useful. While the channels

• Zoho Marketing Automation Update: Topics, Contacts, and List Management

  At Zoho Marketing Automation, our highest priority is making it easier for you to use our product to accomplish your business goals. With that in mind, we are updating three of our pivotal features: Topic, Contacts, and List Management.   These existing

• Important: Zoho MarketingHub is now Zoho Marketing Automation

  Hello Everyone,   We hope you all are doing well. We'd like to notify you that we have rebranded Zoho MarketingHub to Zoho Marketing Automation. We'll discontinue using the term "MarketingHub" from May 26, 2021. However, there will be no changes in the

• Recent Topics

• Migrating a Zoho Forms form into Zoho Creator

  Hi, How can I migrate my Zoho Forms form into Zoho Creator? Thanks. Truly, Emad

• Is there any way to recall an email sent using Zoho CRM?

  If an email is sent using Zoho Mail, there is a recall option/functionality that is available to the sender. Is there any way to recall an email if it was sent using Zoho CRM? I can't seem to find that option. Any help would be appreciated.

• Problem with reports due to "Connected" items change - Yes this IS a problem

  Now that the change has been made to use "connected" items I can no longer run the reporting I need in CRM. I should be able to start with Deals as the parent, connect down to the Account (Account_Name) on the deal as the child, then to any child items

• Introducing notifications in the vendor portal

  Imagine this: You're a recruiter working with multiple vendors on a high-volume hiring project. You’ve just updated a job description after a last-minute change from the hiring manager. One of your vendors, however, is still working off the older version

• CRM limit reached: only 2 subforms can be created

  we recently stumbled upon a limit of 2 subforms per module. while we found a workaround on this occasion, only 2 subforms can be quite limiting in an enterprise setting. @Ishwarya SG I've read about imminent increase of other components (e.

• LESS_THAN_MIN_OCCURANCE - code 2945

  Hi I'm trying to post a customer record to creator API and getting this error message. So cryptic. Can someone please help? Thanks Varun

• Analytics for notes created

  Is there a way I can see how many notes were created per day? Via reporting or analytics?

• No TDS Deduction

  In some of our case, where we are reselling items at the same rate we purchased. In this scenario, Indian IT Law has a provision to request customer not to deduct TDS if the transaction value is same. TDS is paid by us (intermediary reseller) before we

• Cannot update Recurring_Activity on Tasks – RRULE not accepted

  Hello, I am trying to update Tasks in Zoho CRM to make them recurring yearly, but I cannot find the correct recurrence pattern or way to update the Recurring_Activity field via API or Deluge. I have tried: Sending a string like "RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1"

• Add image to report...

  Greetings, I send a weekly color coded report via Creator email. I would like to add the legend somewhere in the report. Header, footer where ever. I have the legend saved on Google Drive and can access it via shared link. Sure someone has wanted to add

• More controls for User Fields in CRM

  Dear All, We are here with a minor but crucial enhancement to the user fields—now set accessibility permissions to the records for user field. User field allows you to extend co-ownership of records to your peers. You can collaborate with them for certain

• Calls to accounts rather than leads or contacts?

  So..... We have a dilemma and I'm hoping someone has encountered this before and figured out a fix. We have just migrated to Zoho. It's great.....expect for how "Calls" are handled.... We are B2B. We do not use the leads module. A "Lead/Prospect" for

• Image Upload Field | Zoho Canvas

  I'm working on making a custom view for one of our team's modules. It's an image upload field (Placement Photo) that would allow our sales reps to upload a picture of the house their working on. However, I don't see that field as a opinion when building

• Power of Automation :: Automated 'Delayed & Closed' Status Update Based on Due Date

  Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate

• Lead Blueprint transition in custom list view

  Hi, Is It possible to insert the Blueprint transition label in a custom Canvas list view? I am using Lead module. I see the status, but it would be great if our users could execute the Blueprint right from the list view without having to enter the detailed

• Range names in Zoho Sheet are BROKEN!

  Hi - you've pushed an update that has broken range names. A previously working spreadsheet now returns errors because the range names are not updating the values correctly. I've shared a video with the support desk to illustrate the problem. This spreadsheet

• populate email address and name in zoho desk?

  Is it possible to populate the email address and name in the zoho desk widget? We only use it in the context of an authenticated user, so we already know the user's name and email. Thanks,

• Are there default/pre-built dashboards in Zoho Desk?

  Hi, I am looking for some pre-built dashboard templates in Zoho Desk, similar to what we can find in CRM/Projects, etc Thank you

• SAP S/4 HANA to CRM Integration - change the SAP Client ID

  Hi I am trying to push the business partners from SAP S/4 HANA to ZOHO CRM module. The SAP Client ID is 421 in my case....kindly let me know how do I specify the sap client because it's a dropdown with specific values as of now. Thanks Ravi Aswani

• Staff rules

  Hi! Do you people know what are the default staff rules when a new booking is created? We have two staff members in my team (me as the admin, and my employee). As we share the same services, I'm wondering how Zoho will pick the staff for new apointments.

• Adding branded signature to tickets reply

  Hi, i am unable to figure out how to add signatures with logo to tickets reply. please advice .

• Zoho Mail Android app update: Manage folders

  Hello everyone! In the latest version(v2.9) of the Zoho Mail Android app update, we have brought in support for an option to manage folders. You can now create, edit, and delete folders from within the mobile app. You can also manage folders for the POP

• How to share ticket numbers across different ticket types

  I'm running an event and have three different ticket types. Add on Event + Main Event - Early bird Main Event only - Early bird Add on Event only - Early bird And Standard class - shown but not available until early bird finishes Add on Event + Main Event

• Adding Social Media Buttons to Basic Campaigns

  Hi, I'm quote new to using Zoho Campaigns and I can't work out how to add Social Media Buttons into my basic campaign? In MailChimp there's a button that brings the icons into your campaign for you. I've tried adding the social media icons as 'buttons' in Zoho but it's not looking great. Can anyone help? Thanks!

• Hide Inactive Social Sign-In Providers from Login Screen

  Hello Zoho Team, We hope you are doing well. Currently, Zoho One allows admins to configure security policies and enable or disable Social Sign-In options for third-party providers such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook,

• [Free Webinar] AI Agents in Zoho Creator - Creator Tech Connect

  Hello Everyone! We welcome you all to the upcoming free webinar on the Creator Tech Connect Series. The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar that runs for around 45 minutes. It comprises technical sessions in which we delve deep into

• Download All Attached Files

  It would be extremely useful to have "download-all" functionality for downloading files attached to a task, subtask, comment, forum post or hosted in the "Documents" section etc. We've instructed our users to zip multiple files prior to uploading, but of course they forget all the time. Having to download lots of files one-at-a-time off a comment or task wastes a lot of time.

• unable to send message reason 554 5.1.8 Email outgoing blocked

  unable to send message reason 554 5.1.8 Email outgoing blocked

• Ship via Carrier Not Working Since Commerce Update

  Since the recent update to the Commerce platform, I can no longer use the ship via carrier function. It will take me to the address screen and let me verify them but when I go to save and move tot he next screen it will not do anything. This is happening

• automations: Can I execute a step on a specific date?

  I have created a form in Zoho forms, and created a contacts list. I have also begun setting up an automation with the intention of sending the form to the contact list on a specific date every month (via email) for the entire year (essentially sending

• Zoho Expense - The ability to add detail to a Trip during booking

  As an admin, I would like the ability to add more detail to the approved Trips. At present a requestor can add flights, accommodation details and suggest their preferences. It would be great if the exact details of the trip could be added either by the

• Adding Folders in Android App

  Is it possible to create a new email folder within the Zoho Mail Android app?  Or can this only be done from the desktop version of Zoho Mail? Cheers!

• Schedule Exports for Regular Project Updates

  Tracking project data often means exporting data at regular intervals. Instead of manually exporting data every time, users can schedule exports for Phases, Tasks, and Tasks in Zoho Projects. These exports can be set to run once, daily, weekly, or monthly

• Question about custom fields using Pivot Tables.

  I have created a pivot table showing annual revenue of a client and how much payment that client is paying my company. Is there a way using pivot table to add an additional field that subtracts those to fields / shows me a percentage of that difference?

• Request for Light/Dark Mode

  Would love the ability to switch between Light and Dark mode similar to Zoho CRM. https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/introducing-dark-mode-light-mode-a-new-look-for-your-crm

• Journey Email - Ignored Contacts

  I have a journey setup which simply sends a string of emails over time. For some reason I am getting large amounts of the contacts who enter the first email being ignored and I can't find anywhere in reports or audit logs why these contacts are not

• Involved account types are not applicable when create journals

  { "journal_date": "2016-01-31", "reference_number": "20160131", "notes": "SimplePay Payroll", "line_items": [{ "account_id": "538624000000035003", "description": "Net Pay", "amount": 26690.09, "debit_or_credit": "credit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000403", "description": "Gross", "amount": 32000, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000427", "description": "CPP", "amount": 1295.64, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000376", "description":

• Zoho Books - Include Payment Terms as a Custom View filter

  It would be great if you could created a custom view based on Payment Terms. This would be really handy for seeing a list of customers who have credit terms. A workaround is not required. I could do something with a creditor checkbox, but it would be

• How to update changed purchase account of item in invoice

  I have selected the wrong purchase account for various articles and created invoices. I had to adjust the purchase account in the article afterwards, but the old purchase account is still posted in the transaction-journal of the invoice. To adjust the

• Help - Zoho CRM notification on mobile (IOS/Android)

  Hello Community! Can I get the IOS/Andoid CRM app to notify me of events, calls, etc. due as I can with MANY other apps?   I am running the free Zoho I would like this to be native to the Zoho CRM app. I do not want to write a sep. mobile app

• Next Page