Hupspot Gmail Image Display Guide

Hubspot users who send tracked emails from Gmail often wonder how image display and read receipts affect open tracking, privacy, and accuracy. Gmail’s image settings play a central role in whether opens are recorded correctly, so understanding how they interact with tracking pixels is essential for anyone relying on engagement data.

This guide explains how Gmail’s image display works, how it relates to email tracking technology, and how sales teams can make smarter decisions when using Hubspot-style tracking features in their day-to-day outreach.

How Hubspot-Style Email Tracking Works

Email tracking tools typically rely on a tiny, invisible image called a tracking pixel. When a recipient opens your email and their email client loads that image, the open event is recorded.

In Gmail and similar clients, this pixel is treated like any other image. That means your tracking success largely depends on whether images are allowed to load automatically or blocked until a user clicks a prompt.

Key Components of Tracking

• A unique tracking pixel generated for each sent email
• The recipient’s email client requesting that pixel from the server
• The tracking system logging the open when the request happens

Because the tracking pixel is just another image, any setting that controls image display also influences if and when opens appear in your reporting inside platforms that work like Hubspot.

Gmail Image Settings and Hubspot Tracking

Gmail offers users a choice about how images are handled. These settings can change how frequently your opens are tracked and how reliable the data looks in your CRM or email tool.

Gmail Image Options

Gmail generally presents two main options for image display:

1. Always display external images
   Gmail automatically loads images in emails, including tracking pixels.
2. Ask before displaying external images
   Gmail shows a prompt at the top of the email asking the user to click to display images.

In both cases, tracking pixels behave like other images. However, the timing and likelihood of load events differ, and that directly affects how a Hubspot-like system records opens.

Impact on Hubspot-Style Open Data

Here is how Gmail’s settings influence tracking behavior:

• If images are always displayed, open tracking is more consistent and likely to capture the first time the email is opened.
• If Gmail asks before displaying images, opens are only tracked after the recipient chooses to load images.
• If a user never loads images, the system may show zero opens, even if the email was read in plain-text mode or via preview.

These behaviors explain why some emails seem to have low or inconsistent open rates when compared across different segments of your list.

Step-by-Step: Viewing Gmail Image Settings

While you cannot directly control your recipients’ Gmail image preferences, understanding where they live and how they work will help you interpret your metrics inside a Hubspot-like dashboard.

How Recipients Adjust Image Settings

1. Open Gmail in a web browser.
2. Click the gear icon to open Settings.
3. Select See all settings.
4. Under the General tab, scroll to the Images section.
5. Choose either Always display external images or Ask before displaying external images.
6. Click Save Changes at the bottom.

These choices control how often tracking pixels load, which is why open reporting for campaigns, sequences, and personal follow-ups in platforms that behave like Hubspot can vary from one contact to another.

Read Receipts vs Hubspot-Style Tracking

Many sales professionals confuse Gmail read receipts with image-based tracking. While they may provide similar information, they work differently and rely on different permission models.

Key Differences

• Tracking pixels (used in Hubspot-style tools) are passive and depend on whether images load. They typically do not ask the recipient for explicit permission.
• Read receipts usually require explicit approval from the recipient or are enforced only within specific organizational accounts (such as Google Workspace domains).
• Because read receipts often prompt the user, some recipients decline them, leading to incomplete data.

In contrast, image-based tracking silently logs opens as long as the images are allowed to load. This is why many sales platforms favor tracking pixels over traditional read receipts for measuring engagement.

Privacy Considerations with Hubspot-Style Tracking

Modern email clients, including Gmail, have introduced features designed to protect user privacy. These features can influence how accurately opens are tracked and displayed in analytics dashboards similar to those in Hubspot.

How Privacy Features Affect Tracking

• Images may be cached on remote servers, which can de-couple the image load event from the exact moment a user opens an email.
• Some clients or extensions block tracking pixels entirely, making open counts appear lower than reality.
• Multiple opens on different devices may or may not be logged, depending on how images are cached and served.

These dynamics mean open rate should be treated as an estimate rather than an exact measurement when evaluating outreach success with tools that function like Hubspot.

Best Practices for Using Hubspot-Style Tracking Data

To get the most value from your open data in a sales engagement platform, combine tracking insights with context and other engagement signals.

Use Opens as Directional, Not Absolute

• A single open suggests your subject line and sending time successfully attracted a view.
• Multiple opens in a short time window may indicate high interest or that the email is being forwarded internally.
• No opens could mean images are off, the email landed in spam, or the message was ignored.

Because of these nuances, open counts alone should not be the only basis for major pipeline decisions inside CRM systems similar to Hubspot.

Combine Opens with Other Metrics

To create a clearer picture of engagement, look at metrics like:

• Link clicks to key pages or proposals
• Replies and follow-up conversations
• Calendar bookings from embedded scheduling links
• Form submissions or demo requests

By layering metrics, you reduce the impact of image-based tracking limitations and get a more reliable understanding of whether your outreach is working.

Practical Tips for Sales Reps Using Hubspot-Style Tools

Sales professionals can adjust their workflows to make better use of tracking-aware behavior without over-relying on single data points.

Optimize Email Timing and Subject Lines

• Test sending at different times of day to see when open rates trend upward.
• Experiment with concise, value-focused subject lines that invite curiosity.
• Use sequences or templates thoughtfully to keep message quality high.

Follow Up Intelligently

• If you see multiple opens in a short period, consider a timely follow-up call.
• If there are no opens after several days, evaluate whether your list is targeted correctly.
• Use click data to prioritize which contacts receive more personalized outreach.

Learn More About Gmail and Tracking

To dive deeper into how Gmail image settings and tracking pixels interact, review the original guidance published on HubSpot’s blog: Gmail image display and email tracking. It provides additional context that supports the practices outlined in this guide.

If you want help refining your sales and CRM strategy, including how to interpret tracking metrics, you can also consult specialists at Consultevo for implementation and optimization support.

By understanding how image settings, tracking pixels, and privacy controls operate together, you can interpret your analytics more accurately and make smarter decisions when using tools that function like Hubspot in your sales process.

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