1. FAQ
  2. Email Trust
  3. What is BIMI and why is it important?
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EMAIL TRUST

What is BIMI and
why is it important?

What is BIMI and why is it Important?

BIMI stands for Brand Indicators for Message Identification and is an email specification that enables the display of brand logos within supporting email clients to encourage the widespread deployment of DMARC protection. The BIMI specification relies on a Verified Mark Certificate or a Common Mark Certificate to display an organization’s logo in the recipients' inbox. The process for BIMI to display a logo in Gmail or other participating email clients relies on:

  • Properly configured SPF and DKIM records
  • DMARC at enforcement, meaning a policy of “quarantine” or “reject”
  • A BIMI record with the locations of your logo and mark certificate files

Since SPF, DKIM, and DMARC email authentication checks are not immediately visible to email recipients, the validated logo display makes trust visible and apparent.

Email inbox providers like Gmail are encouraging widespread adoption of these because as the number of organizations enforcing DMARC increases, the targets for phishing and spoofing attacks are reduced and email as a whole becomes safer and more trustworthy.


How do DMARC, BIMI and Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs) or Common Mark Certificates work together?

Mark Certificates provide proof that your organization owns the logo in the BIMI record. Most email clients that support BIMI rely on a verified market certificate or common mark certificate from an approve certificate authority to activate the logo display. Without a mark certificate your BIMI record may help with your domain reputation, but it is not likely to trigger the display of your logo, serving as a visual indicator of your message’s authenticity, which in turn increases engagement and builds brand recognition.

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