Fifty US retailers sent nearly 42 billion emails during the Black Friday hype
and they were loaded with sneaky ways to track your habits

Date:
Wed, 10 Dec 2025 14:44:36 +0000

Description:
Proton's report into Black Friday and Cyber Monday spam found that retailers are becoming overwhelmingly aggressive in their marketing tactics.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Retailer s are using more aggressive means of marketing Late night marketing and
emails loaded with trackers are now the norm Tracking pixels and links
monitor online activity without user knowledge

During the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, the top 50 retailers in the US sent close to 42 billion marketing emails to customers.

These stats come from Proton, one of the best secure email providers . The ' Spam Watch: The U.S. Inbox Overload + Hidden Tracker Report ' examined emails sent from Tuesday, November 4, through Monday, December 1.

The report found that during this window, almost 80% of brands included a secretive tracking pixel or link in every single email during this period,
and the Black Friday & Cyber Monday weekend saw 10 billion emails delivered into inboxes across the US. Brands battling for attention

When it comes to the awards for the spammiest senders, home decor brand CB2 averaged 2.11 emails per day with 13 trackers in each email, Macy's managed
to send seven emails in a single 24 hour period, and J.Crew sent three emails that each included a whopping 40 trackers.

Brands also disregarded the non-invasive marketing strategies and began sending emails late at night and even in the early morning. Banana Republic sent an email at 12:39 AM on Black Friday morning, and Macys sent seven
emails between 10:58 PM and 12:16 AM on Saturday.

As for the trackers themselves, retailers often include a tiny invisible
image within the email that can automatically capture the users location and device type. These trackers are used to build a user profile which retailers can use to bombard potential customers with aggressively targeted marketing campaigns.

"The Spam Watch findings confirm a harsh reality: the inbox has become a highvolume, highnoise channel where brands battle for attention while
silently gathering data on every open. This is not accidental it is an engineered assault on your attention and your privacy," said Anant Vijay Singh, Head of Product at Proton Mail .

"At Proton, we believe you shouldn't have to sacrifice your data just to shop online. We built Proton Mail to break this cycle, giving users the power to reclaim their digital freedom and block the silent stalkers that have taken over their lives."



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/fifty-us-retailers-sent-nearly-42-billi on-emails-during-the-black-friday-hype-and-they-were-loaded-with-sneaky-ways-t o-track-your-habits


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