Question regarding "Opens"

[TuckerHall]

Hello,

I was curious about the process behind some of the metrics for sent emails. Does an "open" refer only to a human opening the message, or do automated tools such as spam checkers that pre-screen messages count towards "open" stats? On a related note, does a previewed message count towards the open rate? I know not every email service has the same preview functionality so would it differ by platform between, say, Outlook and Gmail?

Thank you so much for your time and help!

[William_A · Accepted solution]

Hello @TuckerHall ,

Open are tracked by the downloading/showing of a 1x1 pixel invisible image that's automatically included in the email. Some security systems may "download" this image to check it for anti-malware, and thus it will result in an open track. Previews / Test Sends do not count since they do not have this image included.

For more info on how opens are tracked