Open rate
rate at which electronic or physical mail are opened
There are two types of "open rates" one for electronic mail (a.k.a. e-mail; see below) and one for physical mail (a.k.a. snail mail via the USPS or other physical mail carrier).
Email Open Rate
The email open rate is a measure primarily used by marketers as an indication of how many people "view" or "open" the commercial electronic mail they send out. It is most commonly expressed as a percentage and calculated by dividing the number of email messages opened by the total number of email messages sent (excluding those that bounced.)
Some Email Service Providers (ESP) also track unique email opens. Similar to an email open, unique email opens eliminate all duplicate opens that occur.
Tracking Email Open Rates are typically tracked using a transparent 1x1 pixel, or small transparent tracking image, that is embedded in outgoing emails. When the client or browser used to display the email requests that image, then an "open" is recorded for that email by the image's host server. The email will not be counted as an open until one of the following occurs:
The recipient enables the images in the email or
The recipient interacts with the email by clicking on a link
The open rate of any given email can vary based on a number of variables. For example, the type of industry the email is being sent to.
The public source identifies “Open rate” as rate at which electronic or physical mail are opened. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around rate, electronic and physical.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Open rate”, the useful work is to connect “rate at which electronic or physical mail are opened” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7096407. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Open rate”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Open rate primary sources, Open rate archive and rate research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Open rate”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Open rate” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.