BIMI, CMC and Google: How DMARCReport Sees This Transform the Email Landscape

Introduction

At DMARCReport, we’ve always believed that email authentication and brand trust should go hand in hand. That’s why the recent update from Google — enabling support for Common Mark Certificate (CMC) under Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) — is big news for businesses of all sizes. If you’re sending emails to clients, subscribers or partners, this shift could markedly change how your messages are perceived. We at DMARCReport are excited to walk you through what this change means, why it matters, and how your organization can take advantage.

In short: with CMC support in Gmail, logos next to your legit emails are no longer limited to large corporations with trademarked logos. Now, smaller companies — startups, SMEs, local businesses — can also build trust and brand recognition in users’ inboxes.

What is BIMI — and Why Should You Care?

BIMI stands for Brand Indicators for Message Identification. At its core, it’s an email standard designed to display a brand’s logo right alongside its authenticated emails in the recipient’s inbox. 

You might think — isn’t that just cosmetic? In reality, BIMI delivers more than just aesthetics:

• Brand recognition and visibility: When recipients see your logo — not just a plain “no-reply@” or generic sender name — your emails immediately feel more professional and familiar. That little visual cue can help reinforce your brand identity every time you send.
• Trust and phishing protection: Because BIMI only works when proper email authentication is in place (i.e. your domain passes the right checks), the presence of a logo helps recipients distinguish genuine emails from impersonation or spoofing attempts. In an age where phishing remains a top threat, having that visual trust signal is a meaningful added layer.
• Better user experience: Especially for companies sending transactional emails, newsletters, or any customer-facing mail — BIMI makes your communication feel more trustworthy and polished. In inboxes flooded with generic-looking emails, a brand logo helps you stand out.

But all of that only works if your domain is properly authenticated. BIMI doesn’t replace authentication — it builds on it. That’s where protocols like DMARC (along with SPF and DKIM) come in. Only after your emails are authenticated under DMARC can BIMI be applied effectively

The Traditional Requirement: VMC — And Why It Was Limiting

Until recently, if you wanted to use BIMI and have your logo show up in Gmail (or many major inboxes), you needed a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). This certificate was more than just a technical validation — it required that your logo be trademarked, meaning there was a legal/administrative burden to meet before you could qualify.

For many small or mid-sized businesses — or any company without a registered, trademarked logo — this requirement was a barrier. The result: though BIMI offered clear benefits in terms of trust and branding, only a fraction of businesses could practically implement it.

The need for a trademark — coupled with the legal costs, paperwork, and time — made VMC more suitable for established brands with legal resources and global ambitions, rather than SMBs, local operators, or lean startups.

Enter Common Mark Certificates (CMC) — A Game-Changer

That’s why the introduction of CMC is such a transformative development. The governing body behind BIMI (the BIMI Group) rolled out CMC as a more accessible alternative to VMC, and in 2024, Google announced it would support CMCs in its Gmail ecosystem.

Here’s what this means:

• No trademark required. With a CMC, you don’t need to own a registered trademark for your logo. Instead, what matters is proof of legitimate, public logo use — typically evidenced by having the logo on your company website for at least 12 months (or via an archival record).
• More accessible for smaller businesses. Startups, local services, SMEs — even niche operators — can now realistically use BIMI without going through the legal overhead of trademark registration.
• Faster, simpler adoption. Because you’re removing a big legal hurdle, getting a CMC tends to be quicker and less costly than going the VMC route.

That alone democratizes access to BIMI and logo-based brand verification.

What Google’s Support Actually Enables

With Google backing CMCs for Gmail and its broader ecosystem (webmail + mobile apps), the path to logo-enabled email is now open for a much wider group of senders.

For email senders, marketers, IT teams — this update creates real opportunity:

• Brand marketing meets authentication: Email isn’t just functional; it’s now a brand touchpoint. With BIMI via CMC, every outbound mail becomes a mini brand impression.
• Reduced friction: Without trademark constraints, onboarding is easier — which is great for organizations that need agility, or that don’t yet have extensive legal/brand infrastructure.
• Security and trust at scale: As more legitimate senders adopt CMC + BIMI, recipients can more reliably trust the visible logos and ignore spoofed or spammy messages. That raises the general hygiene of the email ecosystem.

At the same time, inbox providers benefit — the standard helps them fight phishing and spoofing more effectively while supporting brand-friendly practices.

The Tradeoffs: CMC vs VMC — What You Gain and What You Lose

Of course, nothing is free; there are tradeoffs. Comparing CMC with the traditional VMC model, here’s how things stack up:

So, if your brand already has a trademarked logo and the resources for certificate procurement, VMC remains a strong choice — especially if you value the added visibility and trust signal of the blue checkmark. But for others, CMC offers a nearly frictionless on-ramp to BIMI.

Why This Matters — Especially for Small and Medium Businesses

As DMARCReport, we work with a lot of smaller organizations — the ones for whom every rupee, every hour, every resource matters. For many such entities, investing in trademark paperwork, legal consultations, certificate procurement — just to get a logo next to their emails — was not practical.

With CMC support, that barrier drops dramatically. Suddenly the benefits of BIMI — brand visibility, trust, phishing protection, polished emails — become reachable without major overhead.

Here’s what this could realistically enable:

• Startups and emergent brands can now project a more established, professional identity from day one, giving them an edge in user trust and brand perception.
• Small businesses and local services — think boutique retailers, local consultancies, community organizations — can use email not just as communication, but as branding.
• Nonprofits, educational institutions, grassroots organizations — groups that previously may have shied away from BIMI due to cost or complexity — can now adopt it with minimal hassle.

In short: this levels the playing field.

The Role of DMARC — Foundation Under BIMI

But before you rush to get a CMC and your logo showing in Gmail — you must have your domain properly authenticated. BIMI builds on top of the email security protocols you already (or should) have in place: SPF, DKIM, and especially DMARC. 

To support BIMI, your domain’s DMARC policy cannot be lax. Specifically: the policy should be set to p=quarantine or p=reject, and it should apply to 100% of outbound mail (pct=100). 

That ensures that only authenticated, legitimate messages can carry your brand logo — which is what gives BIMI real meaning. Without proper authentication, the logo would be meaningless, and the protection against spoofing or phishing would be lost.

Therefore, if you plan to implement BIMI (especially via CMC), treat DMARC + SPF + DKIM as prerequisites — not optional extras. At DMARCReport, that’s always our starting point.

How DMARCReport Can Help — and Why Now Is a Great Time to Act

Given this landscape shift, we believe now is an ideal moment for many organizations to revisit their email authentication and branding strategy. At DMARCReport, we offer tools and expertise to help you:

• Assess your current SPF / DKIM / DMARC setup for compliance and effectiveness.
• Guide you through the process of obtaining a CMC — including verifying that your logo meets the “public-use for 12+ months” requirement, and that it is properly hosted/archived (e.g. via archive.org or similar).
• Generate and publish a valid BIMI DNS record.
• Maintain and monitor the BIMI setup (including logo hosting, retrieval, and validation) so that your emails reliably carry your brand avatar.

With CMC now supported by Google, the cost and complexity of getting BIMI-enabled is lower than ever. For many of our clients — especially smaller businesses — this represents a high-value, low-friction opportunity to improve both email security and brand presence.

What the Future May Hold — and Why Email Authentication Matters More Than Ever

We see several trends emerging along with this update:

1. Wider adoption of BIMI across varied business types — not just big brands with deep pockets, but growing adoption among SMBs, nonprofits, startups.
2. Improved inbox security and phishing resistance — as more senders adopt authenticated email + BIMI, inbox providers and recipients benefit from stronger signals of legitimacy.
3. Email as a brand touchpoint, not just a communication tool — emails become part of branding strategy, not just transactional messages.
4. Rise of managed services and third-party support for BIMI/DMARC — as technical requirements drop but usage rises, more tools and services will emerge to help companies deploy and maintain BIMI ecosystems.

In this evolving ecosystem, neglecting email authentication may not only result in deliverability issues — it could also mean missing the opportunity to build brand trust from the get-go.

At DMARCReport, we strongly encourage organizations of all sizes — even those operating on tight budgets — to consider adopting BIMI now that CMC makes it achievable.

Conclusion

The support for CMC under BIMI by Google marks a paradigm shift for email branding and security. What was once thedomain of large enterprises with registered trademarks is now accessible to virtually any business or organization — from lean startups to small local players.

For many, this means that every email sent becomes not just a message, but a brand-reinforcing touchpoint and a signal of trust to recipients.

But the foundation remains unchanged: to reap the benefits of BIMI, you need proper email authentication for SPF, DKIM, DMARC. Without that, a logo is just decoration — not trust.

As DMARCReport, we’re here to help guide you through the journey: from authentication setup to CMC acquisition, BIMI record creation, and ongoing management.

If you’ve ever considered elevating your email brand presence — or simply want to make sure your messages are authenticated and trustworthy — now is a great time to explore BIMI + CMC.

Get in touch with us, and let’s make your emails not just deliverable — but brand-worthy.