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

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• Rich Brandwein

  

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• Ron Kulik

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