What BIMI delivers
- Recognition: your logo appears before the email is even opened.
- Trust: recipients immediately see that the mail is authenticated.
- Brand protection: forgeries are missing the logo — the difference is obvious at a glance.
The prerequisites
BIMI requires DMARC with
p=quarantine or p=reject. Without an active policy, no mail provider will display your logo. Finish DMARC setup first, then BIMI.The four steps
1. Prepare an SVG logo
BIMI requires a specific SVG format — SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG 1.2 Tiny PS). No external references, no script, only solid fills or paths.
- Square, centred motif, clearly readable even at 32 × 32 pixels.
- Maximum 32 KB.
- Must be publicly reachable over HTTPS.
2. Obtain a VMC certificate Cost factor
For Gmail and Yahoo, a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) is mandatory. It proves that the logo is your registered trademark.
- Issuer: e.g. DigiCert or Entrust.
- Prerequisite: registered word/figurative mark at the trademark office.
- Cost: typically EUR 1,000–1,500 per year.
3. Upload the assets
Place the SVG and the .pem certificate on a publicly reachable HTTPS server (e.g. https://firma.at/bimi/logo.svg).
4. Set the DNS record
; TXT record for default._bimi.firma.at
"v=BIMI1; l=https://firma.at/bimi/logo.svg; a=https://firma.at/bimi/vmc.pem"
The components:
v=BIMI1— BIMI version.l=— URL of the SVG logo.a=— URL of the VMC certificate.
Who supports BIMI?
| Provider | VMC required? | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | Yes | Yes |
| Yahoo / AOL | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Mail (iOS / macOS) | Yes | Yes |
| Fastmail | No | Yes |
| Outlook.com / Microsoft 365 | — | Pilot |
Test BIMI before going live. The first real send to a Gmail address shows whether everything fits — or whether the BIMI validator rejects the logo and certificate.