Why can’t I just change Gmail settings to “Ask before displaying external images”?

Yes, you can definitely go that route. But our experiences tell us that when your Gmail is set to “Ask before displaying external images”, your incoming emails may not be displayed properly even for emails without email trackers, because the option disables dynamic email and all images. When you click “display external images” to properly read your emails, then you could be automatically tracked by the sender. Mailpanion smart algorithm selectively blocks only incoming email trackers, not those pixel images without trackers.