Answer: This is an issue that email marketers are just going to have to accept and try to work with for now. The ISP’s main goal is to protect their customers, not to deliver your email, even if their customers requested it. They see images as doorways to many security problems, such as making phishing attacks more credible and opening a door to malicious downloads and increased spam.

ISPs that disable images by default – meaning users have to change a setting to allow images to download automatically – have seen security problems decrease, prompting other ISPs to follow suit. Don’t expect to see a change in this for the time being, at least not until authentication is adopted by all senders and considered a secure method of identifying legitimate email.

However, you can work around default image-blocking with these three strategies:

1. Go directly to readers and tell them how they can activate downloading

2. Cooperate with ISPs that offer automatic downloading to reputable email senders

3. Redesign your email templates to show important content to your readers despite image-blocking.

These strategies will help you stand out from other email marketers who don’t make the effort. Do nothing, and your email marketing program will struggle with poor performance.

Learn more about each strategy with these articles:

• Designing Emails for the Preview Pane and Disabled Images
• Warning! Outlook 2007 Might Trash HTML Again
• 25 Quick Tips to Boost Email Marketing Usability
• How to Get on a Whitelist
• Crafting a Compelling Text Message
• 11 Tips to Make Life Easier for Your Subscribers
• How to Design for Blocked Images
  

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