BIMI - Postmaster+ by OptiPubb

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is an email specification that allows the use of brand-controlled logos within supporting email clients. It's an additional layer of visual trust that brands can provide to their recipients, alongside other email authentication methods like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

BIMI works by allowing brands to publish a special DNS record in their domain that points to their logo. Email clients that support BIMI will then fetch this logo and display it next to the email in the inbox, giving a visual indication that the email is genuinely from that brand.

BIMI provides the following advantages:

Brand Recognition: BIMI allows businesses to display their logo in the recipient's inbox, which increases brand visibility and recognition. This can help recipients quickly identify emails from your brand.
Trust and Authenticity: By displaying your logo in the inbox, BIMI can help provide an additional layer of trust that the email is genuinely from your brand. This can help reduce the impact of phishing and spoofing attacks.
Better User Experience: BIMI can enhance the user experience by adding a visual element to the inbox. This can make the email stand out and can help users quickly identify and prioritize emails.

BIMI requires the domain to have a DMARC policy set to quarantine or reject, and the logo needs to be in SVG format hosted at a public URL. You should check the most recent specifications and requirements for implementing BIMI from the official BIMI website or trusted sources.

BIMI Configuration Options

Component	Description	Example
v (Version)	Identifies the version of BIMI specification being used.	v=BIMI1
l (Location)	URL to the location of the logo image file. The image must be in SVG format.	l=https://example.com/logo.svg
a (Authority)	Optional. URL to a VMC (Verified Mark Certificate). This is used for more advanced BIMI record setups.	a=https://example.com/vmc

Component

Description

Example

v (Version)

Identifies the version of BIMI specification being used.

v=BIMI1

l (Location)

URL to the location of the logo image file. The image must be in SVG format.

l=https://example.com/logo.svg

a (Authority)

Optional. URL to a VMC (Verified Mark Certificate). This is used for more advanced BIMI record setups.

a=https://example.com/vmc

How to setup BIMI

Setting up BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) requires several steps. As a prerequisite, your domain should already have SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in place and have a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject. Here's a simplified guide to setting up BIMI:

Create a BIMI-Compatible Logo: Your logo should be in SVG format and should adhere to certain requirements (for example, it should be a square, it should not contain raster images, scripts, or interactive elements, and it should not reference external resources). You can find more details about logo requirements in the BIMI specifications.
Host the Logo: The logo needs to be publicly accessible over HTTPS.
Create a BIMI Record: The BIMI record is a TXT record that is added to your domain's DNS. The host should be default._bimi, followed by your domain. For example, if your domain is example.com, you'd create a TXT record at default._bimi.example.com.
The value of the record should be v=BIMI1; l=https://your_domain.com/your_logo.svg, where https://your_domain.com/your_logo.svg is the URL where your logo is hosted.
(Optional) Get Your Logo Verified: Some email providers may require your logo to be verified by a third-party authority before they will display it. This process involves getting a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). If you decide to get a VMC, you would add a=your_vmc_provider; to your BIMI record.

After setting up BIMI, you should test your configuration to ensure everything is working correctly. There are online BIMI validators that can check your setup and help you identify any problems.