Congratulations on creating your BIMI record! At this point, we’ll assume that you’ve created an SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG P/S) version of your logo, you’re hosting it on a secure web server, and you’ve added the URL in your BIMI record. You’ve probably even confirmed that it passes the BIMI Group Inspector.
What If Your BIMI Logo Isn’t Showing Up?
It’s important to understand that there are two classes of BIMI records. The simplest is considered to be “self-asserted,” meaning that you publish your logo without it being verified as belonging to your domain. The only requirement for self-asserted BIMI logos is that they be in SVG P/S format. Some mailbox providers accept self-asserted BIMI records today (e.g. Yahoo!, AOL, and Netscape) and may begin to display the logo on qualified messages.
If you left the “a=” attribute blank in the BIMI record, you’ve published a self-asserted logo. However, when it will show up in supporting mailboxes depends on the individual mailbox providers. Each has its own criteria for enabling BIMI logo display. Some require that you send a large volume per day to establish a baseline reputation for your domain. Others will only display logos for well-known consumer-facing brands. The decisions are a mix of proprietary algorithms and heuristics that evolve over time.
Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs) and Their Role
Some mailbox providers (e.g. Gmail) don’t accept a self-asserted BIMI record and require that the logo be “certified” as being associated with a specific company and domain. To address this, certain organizations have been authorized to act as Mark Verifying Authorities (MVAs) that vouch for the legitimacy of a proffered logo. These MVAs verify the association of logos with domains and issue Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs), which can be added to your BIMI record in the “a=” evidence attribute.
Next Steps
We encourage you to continue experimenting with self-asserted BIMI records and see how they work for your domains. You can also track the increasing adoption of BIMI and VMCs by following updates on the BIMI Group blog. For more details on VMCs, read here: Verified Mark Certificates.
Google’s BIMI Pilot Update
Previously, VMCs were only issued to domains invited to participate in Google’s limited BIMI pilot. However, the pilot period is now over, and all brands are welcome to obtain a VMC. If you send a large enough volume of authenticated, non-spam email to consumers, your logo may be picked up and displayed by mailbox providers such as Yahoo.
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