The historical Return Path Consumer Network was a collection of hundreds of thousands of real email users of consumer mailbox organization and optimization tools, such as OtherInbox and Unsubscriber. Users of these consumer tools agreed to share their data anonymously in exchange for access to the tools. In aggregate, these users made up the Return Path Consumer Network. It provided email engagement and delivery data that was then used in Return Path tools. Historical Consumer Network subscriber data is indicated in Return Path Platform as a blue icon of three people.
Note: Consumer Network was formerly referred to as the subscriber panel and the panel.
The Consumer Network data source was removed on January 31, 2020. Historical data remains available in Return Path Platform and select other solutions.
Key details
The historical data provides insight into:
- Subscribers: The data came from hundreds of thousands of real email users, which demonstrates the full spectrum of email usage. These opt-in subscribers resided mainly in North America although a percentage also lived in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. They represented many cultures as well as ages, genders, and levels of socio-economic status. The information was based upon mainstream email engagement and reflected the way most people interact with their emails.
- Engagement: Engagement data offers insight into what people are actually doing in their inbox. Seed data comes from a list of email addresses injected into an email campaign that shows whether the email was placed or delivered at all. Seed data shows placement metrics and engagement data shows metrics based on human behavior.
The following mailbox providers provided data to the Consumer Network:
- Yahoo
- Microsoft