Learn how Google’s email policies affect open tracking, and how Snov.io helps reduce the risks.
Issue update: Snov.io has updated its tracking method with a proprietary technology called Magic pixel, designed to make open tracking safer and more email-friendly.
Our tracking lowers the chances of Gmail displaying warnings compared to traditional tracking used by most outreach tools. However, it doesn't eliminate the risk entirely. Learn more in our article.
What Google does with this update:
Google started blocking images in emails sent to Gmail users and notifying them about potentially suspicious emails. This appears to be part of Google's ongoing efforts to protect users from spam and protect their privacy.
The key takeaway from this update:
Gmail is pushing email outreach toward safer, more trusted standards, encouraging senders to follow best practices and focus on meaningful, relevant outreach.
What this means for open tracking:
When images are blocked, tracking pixels are also blocked, which prevents open tracking from working correctly — meaning opens won’t be detected or logged in your stats.
What does it mean for Snov.io users:
Even if the email is plain text with no images, the Gmail banner may appear if it contains a tracking pixel.
If you're using open tracking or adding images to your email content, your recipients may see a notification that says: "Images in this message are hidden. This message might be suspicious or spam."
Why does the Gmail warning appear
Tracking pixels can contribute to suspicion, but they aren’t the sole reason for a warning like “This message seems suspicious.”
Google doesn’t directly target open tracking. However, it may flag the email as suspicious based on other signals. It focuses more on the overall reputation and content of the email, not just the presence of a tracking pixel.
If an email is considered unwanted or suspicious based on these broader signals, Gmail may block images (including tracking pixels) or show warnings.
Gmail warnings are triggered by a combination of factors, such as:
- Poor sender reputation
- Spammy or misleading content
- High bounce or complaint rates
Pro tip: Improve your lead targeting with ICPs
When your email is relevant and clearly personalized, recipients are more likely to engage, even if a warning appears. In many cases, Gmail removes the alert in follow-up emails once it recognizes your messages as wanted.
What are the next steps
To help minimize the potential risks of open tracking, here are some actionable tips:
Step 1: Turn off open tracking and use link tracking instead
Link tracking is an alternative way to track lead interest. You can also add Clicked on link conditions to your sequence.
Remember to configure a custom tracking domain—this will make link tracking safe to use. How to set up a custom domain.
Snov.io recommends using open tracking only when it's specifically necessary. For example, if the email sequence you want to test relies on “email opened” conditions, or you need open rate data for reporting in the specific campaign.
For all other campaigns, it's best to turn open tracking off to protect your sender reputation.
Step 2: Add images properly
The simplest solution is to avoid adding images, but if they help convey value in your emails, you’ll want to keep using them. Reconsider how you use images in your emails—remove anything unnecessary and keep only what's needed.
To add images safely:
- Use the "Upload image" option in the email campaign editor to add images directly from your computer. This way, Snov.io will store them on secure servers, which makes it safer. Adding images via HTML (using embed code or links from external servers) is more likely to trigger the spam filter.
- If you're contacting a lead for the first time, don’t add images in the first email at all. You can include them in follow-ups if the recipient shows engagement.
Step 3: Measure engagement using Reply rate or Booked meetings
Don’t count on the open rate as a valid metric for measuring engagement. The reply rate is a much better indicator of your campaign's success. Snov.io tracks replies for emails and messages sent through LinkedIn Automation.
You can monitor the reply rate on the statistics dashboard for specific campaigns or the general Reports dashboard.
For those who don’t use reply rates as one of the main KPIs, you can use the integration with Calendly to track booked meetings.
Step 4: Send multichannel campaigns
Email is not the only available channel—use LinkedIn automation as well.
Combine email and LinkedIn in multichannel campaigns to have an additional way to contact prospects.
If you want to learn more about using automated LinkedIn actions, see our LinkedIn Automation course on Udemy.
Step 5: Improve your sender reputation
Having a good sender reputation is crucial now—your emails are less likely to be flagged if your reputation is strong. Email warm-up can help you gain a good sender score or restore a damaged reputation.
Step 6: Troubleshoot your email content before sending
Remember to check that your emails follow best practices by running Deliverability tests.
If you have any remaining concerns, feel free to reach out to our Customer Care team. You can contact us at help@snov.io or through live chat. We're here to assist you!