What You Need to Know About New Gmail Verification

To drive a higher-quality user experience, Google is expanding Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) authentication requirements for businesses that connect with Gmail users. Take advantage of this new verification measure to protect your brand from impersonators and reduce spam risks for your email recipients.

What is Brand Indicators for Message Identification?

Originally introduced to Gmail in 2021, Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) required business senders to authenticate their accounts and verify their brand logo in order to use it as an avatar in emails. While this was a useful first step to help separate legitimate users from scammers, new BIMI authenticated users will have a blue checkmark next to their name to distinguish them from impersonators.

Why is BIMI Important?

Scammers continue to become more sophisticated and so verification efforts must become more sophisticated too. BIMI equally protects the users and the brands they engage with. On the user side, email is a critical component of your digital identity and part of 2-factor verification processes. BIMI helps to prevent you from accidentally sharing information with scammers or providing a backdoor to other accounts like your bank account, security apps, and more. 

From a brand perspective, BIMI helps your business retain its authority so your messages avoid spam filters and email recipients can trust that it is your brand communicating with them.

What is Required to Set Up BIMI?

The BIMI verification process isn’t complicated but does require some technical knowledge about the back end of your website and domain security. If you have a website provider, they can submit on your behalf with the appropriate information and logo assets.

What you need before you apply

1. Website domain host sign-in information
2. Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) for your domain
3. SVG file of your logo that fits a circular frame, uploaded to your website server

Applying for your Verified Mark Certificate VMC

1. Register your brand logo as a trademark
2. Apply for a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC)

Adding a BIMI verification to your domain

1. Create your BIMI record
2. Add your BIMI TXT record to your domain

Once this is complete, your brand logo and the new verified checkmark will be featured on email addresses associated with your domain.

If you’re already an Adpearance client, we have already initiated the BIMI verification process for you. If you’re not an Adpearance client and are struggling with BIMI verification, get in touch. We’re happy to help.