iOS 17 and Sonoma impact on Marketo Engage emails

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Apple iOS 17 and Apple OSX Sonoma will introduce changes to how Safari opens URLs with tracking parameters in order to protect user privacy. Details on these privacy changes can be found on Apple’s website https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/06/apple-announces-powerful-new-privacy-and-security-features/

Our teams have tested the beta versions of these operating systems to learn how these changes will impact Adobe Marketo Engage emails. We have found that URLs containing our tracking parameter mkt_tok will be impacted in some scenarios by these changes. The mkt_tok parameter is used to help associate browsers to known leads using Munchkin and to render the correct email with the View As Webpage link.

Impact on links in emails

The impact these changes have on links in emails will be dependent on whether your links have tracking enabled. Tracked links go through our redirection service which preserves URL parameters when browsing Safari in non-private browsing mode. Links that are not tracked are more susceptible to URL parameters being stripped by Safari. For more information on how to enable or disable link tracking please refer to this documentation https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/email-marketing/general/functions...

Action	Track Link	Include mkt_tok	Resulting URL	Impact
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari	✓	✓	URL resolves at destination with mkt_tok and third-party parameters intact.	Click is tracked. Parameters not stripped.
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari	✓	X	URL resolves at destination with third-party parameters intact.	Click is tracked. Parameters not stripped.
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari	X	X	URL resolves at destination. Third-party parameters may be stripped.	Third party solutions may be impacted by stripped parameters.
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari Private Browsing	✓	✓	URL resolves at destination with mkt_tok and third-party parameters stripped	Click is tracked. Browser is not associated to known lead via Munchkin. Third party solutions may be impacted by stripped parameters.
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari Private Browsing	✓	X	URL resolves at destination with third-party parameters stripped.	Click is tracked. Third party solutions may be impacted by stripped parameters.
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari Private Browsing	X	X	URL resolves at destination. Third-party parameters may be stripped.	Third party solutions may be impacted by stripped parameters.

In general, tracked links in emails will not be impacted by these changes in non-private Safari browsing as our redirection service will retain the URL parameters. If the link in the email is not tracked, then URL parameters may be stripped by Safari. If the link is opened in Safari Private browsing, then mkt_tok and some third-party parameters will be stripped regardless of whether the link is tracked and goes through our redirection service.

Impact on View As Webpage links

Testing has shown some impact on View As Web Page links.

Action	Method of inserting link	Resulting URL	Impact
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari	"Include View as Web Page" option in Email Settings	URL resolves through tracking service and mkt_tok not stripped	No change.
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari	{{system.viewAsWebpageLink}}	URL has mkt_tok value stripped	View As Web Page does not load and returns an error page
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari Private Browsing	"Include View as Web Page" option in Email Settings	URL has mkt_tok value stripped	View As Web Page does not load and returns an error page
Open link from Mail or copy/paste link from Mail into Safari Private Browsing	{{system.viewAsWebpageLink}}	URL has mkt_tok value stripped	View As Web Page does not load and returns an error page

Our service requires the mkt_tok parameter in the URL to render the personalized version of the email; when this parameter is stripped by Safari it will result in an error page being returned instead.

View As Webpage links that are inserted by the token {{system.viewAsWebpageLink}} are not decorated with CNAMEs and do not navigate through our tracking service and will see their mkt_tok values stripped when opened in Safari as a result. This will result in the user getting an error page.

The change will also affect all View As Webpage Links opened in Safari Private Browsing on iOS 17 and Sonoma regardless of how the links were generated. This also includes View As Webpage links in emails sent before the release of these new operating systems.

Our team has identified a solution to build our View As Web Page links in a way that will not be affected by these privacy changes. This change is currently scheduled for our October 24, 2023 release. View As Web Page links generated by {{system.viewAsWebpageLink}} and View as Web Page links opened in Safari Private Browsing on iOS 17 or OSX Sonoma will not function between when the device is updated to one of those operating systems and our October 24, 2023 release.

To lessen the impact on users opening links in Safari, please use the “Include View As Web Page” option in Email Settings instead of the {{system.viewAsWebpageLink}}. Unfortunately there is no workaround that can be offered in the interim for users using Safari Private Browsing.

As we continue to learn more about these changes, we will continue to update this post.

FAQ

Q: Will click tracking be impacted by these changes?

A: No, click tracking that create Clicked Link in Email activities will not be impacted by these changes.