Google will display a blue check mark next to the names of selected senders in Gmail to verify their identities, the company announced on Wednesday. The new blue checkmarks automatically appear next to companies that have adopted Gmail’s existing Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) feature.
Rolling out in 2021, the BIMI feature requires senders to use strong authentication and verify their brand logo to display a brand logo as an avatar in emails. Users will now see a check mark for senders who have used the BIMI feature. Google says this update will help users identify messages from legitimate senders versus impersonators.
Image Credits: Google
Once you hover over the blue check mark next to a sender’s name, you’ll see a blurb that says “the sender of this email verified” that they own the domain and the logo in the profile picture.
“Strong email authentication helps users and email security systems identify and stop spam, and also allows senders to leverage their brand trust,” the company wrote in a blog post. “This increases trust in email sources and gives readers an immersive experience, creating a better email ecosystem for everyone.”
Blue ticks have made headlines in recent months, largely because of the Twitter mess that started when Elon Musk’s social network started selling verification. Last week, Twitter officially removed the obsolete blue ticks, while earlier this week a glitch temporarily brought them back if you updated your biography.
Verification check marks aren’t just a Twitter-only concept, of course, 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 badges, and even LinkedIn recently introduced verification badges.
Gmail is rolling out the blue verified checkmarks for both Workspace accounts and personal Google accounts starting today, so you’ll probably start seeing them soon.