Email Disposition Tracking via Client-Side Rule Execution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current email tracking technologies, such as seed lists and delivery service notifications, fail to provide information on how recipients dispose of and interact with electronic messages, specifically not indicating whether messages are placed in spam or personal folders, or if they are forwarded, replied to, or marked as spam.
Innovation Solution
A computer system that executes rules on HTTP message requests to determine recipient disposition characteristics, including folder placement, screen view, message forwarding, and spam marking, by parsing request headers and generating responses based on heuristic rules to track and report these interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If seed lists are used to track ISP handling of electronic messages, then delivery status information is obtained, but recipient disposition information (folder placement, forwarding, spam marking) is not obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (email client application with embedded tracking pixel) that sits between the email server and the recipient. This intermediary captures disposition information (folder placement, forwarding, spam marking) that would otherwise be invisible to the sender, resolving the information loss without requiring complex server-side modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by having the email client application send disposition data back to the sender's tracking system. When an email is placed in spam folder, forwarded, or manually moved, the client application automatically reports this back to the sender, creating a closed-loop feedback mechanism that provides real-time disposition information.
2Loss of information
If delivery service notifications are used to track message delivery, then delivery receipt information is obtained, but information on message disposition (spam folder, personal folder, forwarding) is not obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The email client application performs self-service by automatically tracking and reporting its own actions with received emails. When the user forwards an email, moves it to spam, or opens it, the client application autonomously captures this disposition data and reports it back to the sender without requiring manual input or complex configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The tracking pixel is embedded in the email message before sending. This preliminary action ensures that when the recipient's email client processes the message, the disposition information is automatically captured and reported back, eliminating the need for post-delivery tracking setup.
3Measurement precision
If traditional tracking methods are used, then delivery confirmation is obtained, but detailed engagement metrics (preview pane view, full pane view, forwarding, replying) are not obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tracking functionality into discrete, identifiable events within the email client application. Each disposition action (preview pane view, full pane view, forwarding, replying, spam marking) is tracked as a separate, distinct event with specific data points, allowing precise measurement of engagement without requiring a monolithic complex tracking system.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer implemented method for determining recipient disposition characteristics of an electronic message that was acted upon by an electronic message reader is described. The method includes receiving by a computer system message requests in response to the electronic message reader acting on the electronic message and executing by the computer system one or more rules that compare a value of one or more fields included in the one or more message requests to one or more field values included in the one or more rules.