We want to update you on Apple’s upcoming Mail Privacy Protection Program and the effect it will have on open rates. Apple has announced Monday, September 20th as the date of its iOS 15 release. At that point, Apple users can update their operating system, and if they use the Apple Mail app, opt into Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection Program.

Once Apple Mail app users start opting into the Mail Privacy Protection Program, we expect open rates will begin to artificially rise. Adoption of new software can take time, so not all Apple iOS users will update at once. Email open rates will begin to rise with the release and climb for the next few months.

We will be monitoring the release and its effect on overall email open stats. We are updating our email address scoring algorithm and researching how best to make the open rate metric more reliable in light of Apple’s new program. We’ll update you as we make progress here.

Overview of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection Program

As mentioned in our July email, Apple is launching its Mail Privacy Protection program that will affect how email opens are detected across the email industry. When Apple Mail users first open the app after updating their software, they will be prompted to choose whether to protect their email activity. Most notably for bulk email senders, the option to protect mail activity will prevent senders from knowing whether the recipient opened an email.

While Apple has not provided specific details about how this program will be implemented, after doing our own testing, we expect all emails received by Apple Mail will register as opened, resulting in an artificial increase in the number of Targeted Email opens.

The Apple Mail app can be used with almost any email address, so this change will not be limited to just Apple email addresses.

We’ve put together some information for you about how we suspect the privacy program will affect your emails and how you can prepare for these changes.

The goal of most email programs is conversions, such as donations, signups, follows, and the like so it may not be surprising that our primary recommendation is to redirect your focus from opens to clicks and conversions.

Additionally, with Apple’s new program, it will be more important than ever to follow best practices around email deliverability. If you’re new to the concept of deliverability or want to review our recommended best practices, you can explore our Email Deliverability Success Guide and register for our Email Deliverability Best Practices Feature Webinar.

We will reach out with additional information about handling these changes as Apple releases more information about the program.

Yours,

Mark Puleo

(He, Him, His)

Vice President of Client Services, NGPVAN