Google is going to start displaying a blue checkmark next to
select senders’ names on Gmail to verify their identity, the company announced
on Wednesday. The new blue checkmarks will automatically appear next to
companies that have adopted Gmail’s existing Brand Indicators for Message
Identification (BIMI) feature.
The BIMI feature, which rolled out in 2021, requires senders
to use strong authentication and verify their brand logo in order to display a
brand logo as an avatar in emails. Users will now see a checkmark icon for
senders that have adopted the BIMI feature. Google says this update will help
users identify messages from legitimate senders versus impersonators.
Once you hover over the blue checkmark next to a sender’s
name, you will see a blurb that says “the sender of this email has verified”
that they own the domain and logo in the profile image.
“Strong email authentication helps users and email security
systems identify and stop spam, and also enables senders to leverage their
brand trust,” the company wrote in a blog post. “This increases confidence in
email sources and gives readers an immersive experience, creating a better
email ecosystem for everyone.”
Blue checkmarks have made headlines for the past several
months, largely because of the mess on Twitter that began when the Elon
Musk-owned social network began selling verification. Last week, Twitter
officially got rid of legacy blue checkmarks, while earlier this week a glitch
brought them back momentarily if you updated your bio.
Of course, verification checkmarks aren’t just a
Twitter-only concept, as YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok and many other digital
platforms have some form of verification. In March, Meta took a page from
Musk’s book and launched paid verification checkmarks, and even LinkedIn
recently introduced verification badges.
Gmail is rolling out the blue verified checkmarks starting
today across both Workspace accounts and personal Google accounts, so you’ll
probably start seeing them soon.
Source - TechCrunch
-Agencies
