Hi everyone,
We’re currently facing issues with navigating server clicks in our email analytics. When analyzing email contact point activity, we notice that a significant percentage of interactions appear to be server clicks. For instance, an email sent at 12:00 AM shows all links being activated immediately, even though it’s clear that a real human wouldn’t interact with all the links, especially those in the footer, right away.
This issue poses a major challenge for our analytics, as a large portion of our contacts seem to be affected by these server clicks. Our research indicates that the industry we’re targeting (government) is particularly prone to this issue, likely due to stringent public information protection measures.
One approach we adopted, based on suggestions from this forum, was to use a bait link—such as a privacy statement in the email footer—that no one would typically click on. However, this hasn’t been entirely effective, as server clicks do not follow consistent patterns. For example, some server clicks might open half the links immediately but skip the bait link, while others might open every single link.
We’re considering a new method: excluding actions that occur within the first two minutes of the email being sent from receiving points. While we acknowledge that we might miss some genuine interactions, this could help us obtain more accurate data.
Is this approach feasible? If anyone has other suggestions or insights, they would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Harry