Email authentication
BIMI, VMC and CMC
Understand logo publication requirements and provider-specific display decisions.
Start with authenticated mail
BIMI associates a brand indicator with authenticated mail. It is not a delivery override. The BIMI Group requires an enforced DMARC policy for participating domains; a monitoring-only policy is insufficient. Confirm legitimate mail alignment before changing DMARC for a logo project.
Prepare the actual brand assets
- Use the organization’s approved logo in SVG Tiny Portable/Secure format. An ordinary SVG export is not automatically compliant.
- Host the final asset and any certificate at stable HTTPS locations under operational ownership.
- A Verified Mark Certificate and a Common Mark Certificate have different eligibility conditions. Check the issuing authority and target mailbox provider before purchasing either.
- Logo display remains at the receiving provider’s discretion. Self-asserted records have limited support.
Publish account-specific values
| Field | Value to obtain |
|---|---|
| DNS owner | BIMI selector and actual sending domain from the implementation plan |
| v | BIMI1 |
| l | HTTPS URL of the approved SVG Tiny PS logo |
| a | HTTPS URL of the issued certificate when required |
Use the exact values for your approved assets. Record the asset owner and renewal process alongside the DNS change.
Verify in order
- Verify DMARC enforcement and real message alignment.
- Check public access to the final SVG and certificate, including certificate validity.
- Compare the record and asset profile with the target mailbox provider’s requirements.
- Inspect real messages from the production stream. A missing logo alone does not establish a delivery failure.
See Yahoo BIMI requirements for the Yahoo-specific conditions.