Litmus Analytics' tracking code really works? I dont think so

Question

The Litmus' tracking code has a div with id #_t, as code bellow.

<style data-ignore-inlining=3D"" type=3D"text/css">
@media print {
  #_t { background-image: url('https://ekpz8q6s.emltrk.com/ekpz8q6s?p&d=3Dcarlosfatureto@gmail.com');
}}
div.OutlookMessageHeader {
  backgroun=
    d-image: url('https://ekpz8q6s.emltrk.com/ekpz8q6sf&d=3Dcarlosfatureto@gmail.com');
}
table.moz-email-headers-table {
  background-image: url('https://ekpz8q6s.emltrk.com/ekpz8q6s?f&d=3Dcarlosfatureto@gmail.com');
}
blockquote #_t {
  background-image: url('https://ekpz8q6s.emltrk.com/ekpz8q6s?f&d=3Dcarlosfatureto@gmail.com');
}
#MailContainerBody #_t {
  background-image: url('https://ekpz8q6s.emltrk.com/ekpz8q6s?f&d=3Dcarlosfatureto@gmail.com');
}
</style>
<div id="_t">&nbsp;</div>
<img border="0" height="1" src="https://ekpz8q6s.emltrk.com/ekpz8q6s=?d=carlosfatureto@gmail.com" width="1" style="border: 0;height: auto !important;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;">

The "print rate" and "forwards rate" uses this div to identify if the email was printed or forwarded. But, Gmail, Outlook and everyone of the "biggest companies" removes all ids and classes from email's elements. So, without the id there is no tracking.

The "engagement rate (glanced, deleted, read, skim)" probably use a slow-load image. The time to load is the time that user spent. Once again, Gmail, Outlook and everyone of the "biggest companies" use proxy and cache. In this case, the image is always loaded until the end.

I made some tests and both methods (slow-load image and div with custom id) failed in Gmail and Outlook, but it works in roundcube webmail.

So, my question is. In 2016, someone uses Litmus and it works for you? I know that back in 2010 the Litmus probably worked fine, but now, in 2016, it still works?

They have a help page and I do not found any answer. Here in Stackoverflow there is a lot of discussion about their methods, but all old. — user2431082, Jun 17 '16 at 11:13
Their support page says you can email them at hello@litmus.com and it lists a phone number for support as well. — ceejayoz, Jun 17 '16 at 12:54

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:22

Disclaimer - I work for Litmus.

Litmus' Email Analytics definitely does work. This answer is mostly accurate: How does Litmus track their email analytics?

There are two things in your question that are not accurate:

Gmail, Outlook and everyone of the "biggest companies" removes all ids

That is not accurate. You can see from Campaign Monitor's excellent CSS Support Guide for Email that the E#id selector is valid in most major email providers.

The "engagement rate (glanced, deleted, read, skim)" probably use a slow-load image.

This is not how our analytics works. For ip purposes I'd rather not get into the specifics of how this works here but if you'd like to contact us via support channels we can discuss.

You are correct that Gmail and any other providers that use proxies to cache images will cause issues with the engagement metrics. This is addressed in this support article here: https://litmus.com/help/analytics/understanding-gmail-opens/

Litmus Analytics' tracking code really works? I dont think so

1 Answers1