BIMI
Brand Indicators for Message Identification: a DNS record pointing to a logo that supporting inboxes display next to mail that passes DMARC at enforcement.
What it means
BIMI lets a domain publish a logo for mailbox providers to show beside its messages. The domain publishes a TXT record at default._bimi with the location of an SVG logo and, where the provider requires one, of a mark certificate proving the right to use it. The receiver shows the logo only for mail that passes DMARC under a policy of quarantine or reject.
Gmail requires a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) or a Common Mark Certificate (CMC), and shows a checkmark only with a VMC. Some providers, such as Yahoo and Fastmail, also accept self-asserted logos without a certificate, according to the BIMI Group.
BIMI is not an RFC: the specification is an individual IETF Internet-Draft. The AuthIndicators Working Group, which runs the BIMI Group site, publishes the guidance and the Mark Certificate Guidelines around it.
Example
default._bimi.example.com. TXT "v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/brand/logo.svg; a=https://example.com/brand/vmc.pem"Related terms
On this site
Sources
What this definition rests on. The wording is ours; the facts are theirs.
- IETF draft: Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)datatracker.ietf.org
- Google Workspace Admin Help: Set up BIMIknowledge.workspace.google.com
- BIMI Group: Understanding BIMI certificate typesbimigroup.org
- BIMI Groupbimigroup.org
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