01:29
Faizan
You don't have to fret with uncertainty about whether people are ignoring your emails or are just slow to read them if you get notified each time someone reads your sent messages. Google doesn't make this an in-house feature for personal Gmail accounts. However, the business version of Gmail, within Google Apps, does offer it. Beyond that, there are browser extensions floating around out there that work with Gmail and notify you of opened mail.
Disclaimer
To be clear no application can truly tell you if someone has read your sent messages. It can determine if a message has been opened. But whether the recipient actually reads the message -- as opposed to giving it a quick glance -- is another matter. Furthermore, no app is perfect. Even the Google Apps website gives a clear warning about Gmail's notification service, saying that it's prone to error and shouldn't be relied on for certifying message delivery.
Google
Google calls its read-email notifications, similar to other email service providers, "read receipts." The more technical term for these receipts, though, is message disposition notifications. You must sign up for Google Apps which costs at minimum $5 monthly or $50 yearly, as of June 2013. Then you can set up read receipts to be sent to you automatically or for them to be sent only after recipient approval. Once set up, Gmail will send you a notification showing that a message has been opened, and at what time. However, if the recipient opens the message via an IMAP/POP client or through an email group -- as opposed to being a direct recipient -- you likely won't get a read receipt from Gmail, although many IMAP/POP clients themselves, such as Microsoft Outlook or Eudora, support requests for read receipts.
Chrome
There are at least two Google Chrome browser extensions that notify you when someone opens your Gmail messages -- Boomerang and Right Inbox for Gmail --both also work with Firefox and Safari browsers, as of June 2013. Similar to Google's read receipts, these extensions prompt Gmail to send you an email whenever someone opens one of your sent messages. You can use both extensions for free on a limited basis -- typically 10 email notifications a month -- or subscribe to a monthly or yearly service for unlimited use.
Other
Completely separate from Google and Gmail offerings are Web services that track your sent emails. At least two of them are SpyPig and WhoReadMe. You must sign up for an account with them and send mail through their online platform, rather than directly from your Gmail account. The services embed an image that's laced with a code in your email message. That code-ridden image then communicates with whatever service you're using whenever the recipient opens the message. However, these services aren't fail-safe either, since the recipients must allow for downloading HTML and JavaScript code -- the code the images use -- for the service to work, which isn't always the case.
Disclaimer
To be clear no application can truly tell you if someone has read your sent messages. It can determine if a message has been opened. But whether the recipient actually reads the message -- as opposed to giving it a quick glance -- is another matter. Furthermore, no app is perfect. Even the Google Apps website gives a clear warning about Gmail's notification service, saying that it's prone to error and shouldn't be relied on for certifying message delivery.
Google calls its read-email notifications, similar to other email service providers, "read receipts." The more technical term for these receipts, though, is message disposition notifications. You must sign up for Google Apps which costs at minimum $5 monthly or $50 yearly, as of June 2013. Then you can set up read receipts to be sent to you automatically or for them to be sent only after recipient approval. Once set up, Gmail will send you a notification showing that a message has been opened, and at what time. However, if the recipient opens the message via an IMAP/POP client or through an email group -- as opposed to being a direct recipient -- you likely won't get a read receipt from Gmail, although many IMAP/POP clients themselves, such as Microsoft Outlook or Eudora, support requests for read receipts.
Chrome
There are at least two Google Chrome browser extensions that notify you when someone opens your Gmail messages -- Boomerang and Right Inbox for Gmail --both also work with Firefox and Safari browsers, as of June 2013. Similar to Google's read receipts, these extensions prompt Gmail to send you an email whenever someone opens one of your sent messages. You can use both extensions for free on a limited basis -- typically 10 email notifications a month -- or subscribe to a monthly or yearly service for unlimited use.
Other
Completely separate from Google and Gmail offerings are Web services that track your sent emails. At least two of them are SpyPig and WhoReadMe. You must sign up for an account with them and send mail through their online platform, rather than directly from your Gmail account. The services embed an image that's laced with a code in your email message. That code-ridden image then communicates with whatever service you're using whenever the recipient opens the message. However, these services aren't fail-safe either, since the recipients must allow for downloading HTML and JavaScript code -- the code the images use -- for the service to work, which isn't always the case.
Posted in: gmail
