In the email marketing world, the standard way to track opens involves embedding a pixel image in every sent email. This pixel is invisible and won’t disrupt your email's design. Whenever the pixel is downloaded, we can track that open. However, if the recipient’s settings prevent images from displaying, the pixel won’t download, meaning the open won’t be recorded.

An open is tracked only if all images are downloaded when a recipient views their email. For example, if the recipient’s settings require them to click “Show blocked content,” the open will only count once they do so.

This situation varies from recipient to recipient, depending on their individual account settings, which means there may be some opens that don’t get tracked.

In some cases, spam filters might crawl links before the email reaches the recipient's inbox. This automated process can lead to the tracking pixel being downloaded, causing an open activity to be recorded even if the recipient didn’t interact with the email.