# Understand Open Tracking

## Prefetch or Bot Opens in Email Tracking

### What are bot or prefetch opens?

When you send an email, your open rate is typically calculated based on a tracking pixel that loads when someone opens the email. However, not all opens come from real people.

Some email providers and security tools (like Apple Mail Privacy Protection or corporate spam filters) **preload or scan emails**, which can trigger the tracking pixel **before** a recipient has actually opened the message. These are called **bot opens** or **prefetch opens**.

{% hint style="info" %}
These automated opens can inflate your open rates in other tools. In Bird, we exclude them by default which brings down the open rate as compared to other tool. However, you can adjust this setting on your workspace.
{% endhint %}

### Why are my open rates low in Bird compared to other tools?

In Bird, we exclude prefetch or bot opens by default which brings down the open rate as compared to other tools which include them in reporting by default. This inflates the Opens and Open rate. However, you can adjust this setting on your workspace to include or exclude opens to keep your benchmark.

### How to manage prefetch or bot opens in your workspace

To help you track engagement more accurately, you can choose whether or not to count these prefetch or bot opens in your reporting.

#### To update this setting:

1. Navigate to **Marketing > Preferences > Email > Tracking**
2. Select **Include prefetch opens** as shown below

<figure><img src="/files/kOnmgo4xKgqo6W3NEVNg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.bird.com/applications/analytics/analytics/concepts/understand-open-tracking.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.