if you look at any guide on how to track gmail location in google it will tell you that you need to get an email header containing an ip address and then paste it in the right place and that’s great except it’s not really accurate as most emails contain ip addresses from clients like gmail which do not reflect the actual location of their recipient.
Not to mention that this traditional approach is not time efficient.
In this guide, we go over how to track the location of emails automatically, the two different methods, the ethics, the limitations, and the benefits.
Standard email location tracking method vs. this method
The standard method for tracking the location of an email consists of two steps.
- find the ip address of an email.
- find that ip.
This method can work, but it is very limited as it requires constant work on your part and is not always accurate.
however, if I were to apply it, this is what I would have to do:
- open the email you want to find the location of.
- in gmail/g suite, you will now need to press the 3 dots in the top right corner of the email followed by show original.
Now, you will see the entire email with a lot of text that was not there before.
The way this would normally look is that you would now need to go to the correct site and paste the header (all the text before the actual email), which would result in the site parsing the location of the site.
what is the problem with this approach?
- It takes a lot of time to investigate the location of each email.
- Services that analyze the location of emails can use and sell the data you provide to them. not ideal for security & Confidentiality of emails.
- This method is rarely accurate, as many clients, such as gmail, do not provide the IP address of the recipients, often resulting in incorrect country details and not the city.
the most effective gmail location tracking method:
if you have a gmail or g suite account, instead of going through all these steps, you can simply download a chrome extension called mailtag.
mailtag is primarily an email tracker that lets people know when emails are opened, but it’s also a great tool for finding out where your emails were sent from.
It is more accurate, faster and safer.
why?
- You are not copying any of your email data onto someone else’s website. mailtag does not have access to the content of your emails.
- gets accurate information on your recipient’s location, as it doesn’t rely on an often misleading header.
- You immediately have information on the location of your email recipients without having to do anything.
here is an example from the same recipient who we know for sure is from australia as that is where the company is based.
In the first image, you see the information provided by a site where you paste the header information, meanwhile, at the bottom, the data is from the mail tag:
The Benefits of Gmail Location Tracking:
The biggest benefit of tracking email location aside from just knowing where the person is, is the information you get that allows you to increase conversion rates.
for example, by knowing someone’s location, you can better understand someone’s culture and therefore write emails in the right tone. On the other hand, you can also time your emails better if you know someone’s time zone, which can dramatically increase response rates on your follow-ups.
Of course, there are also some rare use cases like our users who decided to use it to catch their wife cheating on them, but that’s a whole different story and not what the mail tag is usually used for.
However, with mailtag you can also know when people open your emails. and for many, especially in the world of sales and marketing, that will be much more useful.
The Limitations of Tracking the Location of Emails
Of course, as with all technology, there are some limitations.
An email IP address can briefly locate anyone in the world.
except when using a vpn.
If someone is connected to a vpn and opens your email, it can appear that they are somewhere else.
However, most vpn users use a vpn only to unblock blocked streaming services, and in most cases, they will not use a vpn.
however, it is worth knowing about this limitation.
The Ethics of Email Location Tracking
When you copy data from an email to a random website that’s also free, that’s concerning.
after all, how does that website make money?
is it selling data?
mailtag cannot collect data from your emails. If it did, it wouldn’t be in the chrome store.
this is how gmail location tracking works
Email location tracking is possible, but the focus shown on top-ranking posts isn’t really accurate.
with mailing label? you can track when people open your emails and where they open them. why not try it for yourself with a 14-day free trial with no card required when signing up? just download the extension from the google chrome store.