Google has changed the way Gmail handles images in email messages but what does it mean for email marketers and their campaigns?
Gmail ‘open’ rates to rise
Back in December Google announced they were allowing images to be displayed by default in Gmail messages for the first time. The reason for the change was the introduction of new technology running behind Google’s email service to scan image files in messages for viruses before displaying them. So why is this change important to your email campaigns? When you send a campaign your ‘open’ or ‘read’ rate is based on our software tracking a request for an image file used within your message. As a result your open rate from Gmail users should increase significantly when compared to previous campaigns.
The downside of Gmail image caching
However it is not all good news. In allowing images to be displayed by default Google has also implemented image caching, a way of storing the images on the Google network to reduce file transfers and increase the speed images can be displayed. The downside of caching is that information on the geographical location of the user and the device they use will be lost, and we understand replaced with Google’s location of Mountain View, California.
