Gmail is adding support for verified brand logos apart from the Productivity & Collaboration’ week at Cloud Next ‘20: OnAir. The brand logo will show up in the avatar slot next to the name and address of a sender in the top left corner.

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is an email specification that enables the use of brand-controlled logos. This improves the reliance on the source of an email and furthermore Google’s plan for people’s safety.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance(DMARC) are supposed to combat spammers in the ‘From’ address. Messages are verified by the sender’s domain. These two innovations will allow confirming ownership of their corporate logos.

The first test for BIMI will be a couple of weeks with limitations on the number of senders. This encourages the use of DMARC to secure the ecosystem. If DMARC is successful then the pilot for BIMI will come shortly after in the coming months. Other partners like LinkedIn, Verizon Media(Yahoo/AOL), Fastmail, Twilio SendGrid, Validity, and Vailmail.

Google is trying to crack down on security which includes allowing brands to display their logos as their avatars. These brands confirm the verification of their sources.

CNN was given the first validation certificate. CNN has been guaranteed to use the new security features known as ‘DMARC’ and ‘BIMI’.

Written by: Anay Amoah

Edited by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

9To5Google: “Google adding support for verified brand logos in Gmail”

News Break: “ Google launches BIMI pilot to bring verified brand logos to Gmail “

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Bhupinder Nayyar Flickr Page – Creative Commons License