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How to identify customers who open emails in Gmail

Updated

Use the user-agent attribute value in email campaign events with status 'opened' to identify emails opened in Gmail. If the email was opened in Gmail, the user-agent contains GoogleImageProxy or a Google Image Proxy variant such as (via ggpht.com GoogleImageProxy).

Create a report

  1. Create a report based on the opened email campaign events.

  2. Add the user-agent property.

  3. Filter the report where user-agent contains GoogleImageProxy.

This returns customers whose open was recorded through Gmail's image proxy.

Create a segment

Use the same condition in a customer filter or segment:

  • The customer has an email campaign event with the status 'opened'.

  • user-agent contains GoogleImageProxy.

Use the matching filter to target these customers, or use the not matching filter to exclude them.

Why not use the email domain

Do not rely solely on the email domain. Some Gmail users use custom domains, so @gmail.com is not a reliable indicator. The user-agent provides a more precise way to identify Gmail opens.

Important

A GoogleImageProxy open means Gmail fetched the tracking image. It is a useful indicator that the email was opened in Gmail, but it is not guaranteed that the recipient actually read the email, because Gmail can proxy or cache images.