E-mail tracking using a 1 x 1 image
Can anyone help me on how to implement e-mail tracking using a 1 x 1 image.
Here's what I know:
1. The e-mail has to be a html document (set the content/type)
2. When the reciepient reads the e-mail (assuming that the client supports html e-mails) this 1 x 1 gif image is retrieved from my server, and gets logged in the logs
Here's where I am stuck:
1) How do I cross-reference the entry in the log, to the e-mail address. This e-mail will be sent to multiple reciepents. That is, if I send the email to [email protected] and [email protected] & [email protected], and there are two entries in my log for the 1X1 gif, can I tell who has read the e-mail?
2) Can I tell the e-mail client (Hotmail, Outlook, etc)that has been used to read this e-mail?
3) I am assuming that there is no way of tracking email delivered to a non-html enabled email client.
Thanks in Advance
Out of my mind. Be back in five minutes
mairving posted this at 03:29 — 15th May 2001.
They have: 2,256 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
To me what you are attempting to do could possibly be done. I question the ethics of it though. It is one thing to track someone when they come to your site. It is quite another to send them an email for tracking purposes. The difference in my opinion is the initiation of contact. Someone comes to your site of their own free will. In the case of an email, you are the initiator. I personally would have problems with that. It would be okay if you had a link in your email that when they clicked on it, they would go to your site.
Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states
rajeXsh posted this at 14:30 — 15th May 2001.
They have: 3 posts
Joined: Jun 2000
This tracking is to be used only to find the success / failure of e-mail marketing and nothing else.
True, some people (including me) would call it spam; but then again, the list is of people who have agreed to receive email offers based on their interest.
On the ethics of the whole scheme, yes it is on very shaky ground - On one hand, the person has opted to receive email but on the other hand, the person has not opted for his viewing habits (for those particular emails) to be tracked. Yes, it is a dirty business, but instead of mass mailings, companies would rather target a specific group who may be interested in what they have to offer.
Here's my problem, I am just a minion, who is told to do stuff. If I very much doubt the ethics/legality of the scheme, I can say that it can’t be done by me.
On this email tracking, that’s the way 'legitimate' marketing is going to be done in the future. Companies are not going to pay good money for email lists when the view rate is around 1% or less. Of course there will be other illegitimate mass mailings (porno sites, etc.)
Normal user tracking is done all the time, whether we like it or not. All of the banner ad's that are seen on websites place cookies on your machines, and they can provide the company with a good idea of your surfing habits based oh their database.
This is my first internet project and I am new to all this, so don’t hesitate to tear into me if you think that my arguments are incorrect.
What I have gathered is that cross-referencing log entries to e-mail addresses is (to put it loosely) on shaky grounds, but I can use the log entry to determine approximately how many people viewed the email.
Thanks
Out of my mind. Be back in five minutes
TheGizmoid posted this at 20:52 — 15th May 2001.
They have: 168 posts
Joined: Apr 2001
>>True, some people (including me) would call it spam; but then again, the list is of people who have agreed to receive email offers based on their interest.<<
Don't be so sure of that. I have *never* signed up for an "opt-in" list based on a particular interest, yet I get spam that says I have all the time. The marketers want you to believe they have a "clean" list of interested parties, when in fact, the majority of the time they are simply spammers charging more for their supposedly "clean" lists.
In fact, I tracked down one service that said I had opted in and that they honored all opt-outs, but their site didn't so much as have an email address, let alone a way to opt-out. This marketer was renting their lists saying it contained only opt-in addresses, which was an utter lie.
I posted once (one time only, mind you) at an investment board where I read the privacy policy before registering. Blammo, now I get tons of spam about investing, mortgages, credit ratings and the like.
The only thing I ever opted-in for was MyPoints, and all of the emails come from them, not third-party spammers.
I guess I'm on all those "99 million fresh email addresses for only $99!" CDs I get spam for.
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