Bot clicks in newsletters can distort reporting and mislead marketers. The author shares personal experience with newsletter advertising, noting that while click numbers might appear promising, actual engagement often reveals a different story — typically one page view and no further interaction. After the Tooltester Newsletter gained over 3,700 subscribers, the author estimated around 5% may be bots. Key indicators of bot activity include sudden spikes in clicks right after sending, high bounce rates, and lack of user engagement like scrolling or clicking on other pages. To investigate, a unique test was implemented by inserting a random link (just a period) into a newsletter. Two issues were sent out, resulting in only two clicks from the first issue and none from the second. These results suggest that the subscriber list is primarily composed of real users, as bots likely wouldn’t click on such an inconspicuous link. The simplicity of this method stands out; it requires no special tools or elaborate tracking, just a clever way to identify bot activity. The author has also started adding similar links in the footer of newsletters for consistency, often masking them to avoid human clicks. This approach appears effective in filtering out inactive bots over time. The piece invites readers to share their thoughts on bot detection methods, encouraging a dialogue on best practices in newsletter engagement.