• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, September 13, 2022

Apple, one of the world’s large inbox providers, is rolling out BIMI (brand indicators for message identification), an industry effort to enable brands to display their logos next to authenticated emails, in its  iOS 16 and macOS Ventura releases this fall.  

Apple’s embrace of BIMI, which had been announced in June, will enhance the email experience for 850 million users, an estimated 58.4% of desktop client market share, the company says.  

Apple is joining Yahoo, Gmail, AOL and Fastmail and a host of email support companies like Valimail, Validity, Mailchimp, Proofpoint, Mailchimp, Proofpoint and Twilio SendGrid. Gmail rolled out BIMI in all of its inboxes last summer. 

Earlier this summer, Apple released the second developer beta of iOS 16, which supports the BIMI standard.  

BIMI allows email senders to display their logos and reassure consumers that the email is legitimate and from a trusted brand.  

With BIMI, an email must be authenticated through the Domain-based Message Authentication, Receiving & Conformance (DMARC) standard, with enforcement set to quarantine or reject. And, the logo must be validated through a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC).

Apple's rollout of BIMI is being hailed throughout the email business. 

"Email is the most powerful brand to consumer medium in the world," states Marcel Becker, Senior Director of Product Management at Yahoo. "BIMI has been largely impactful, increasing open and engagement rates, for the brands that rely on Yahoo Mail to reach their audience. Apple's participation will be huge for the user experience of consumers and brands big and small."

“I applaud Apple for adopting the BIMI standard with VMC, which shows the company’s continued commitment to security and excellent user experiences,” states Seth Blank, CTO at Valimail and Chair of the AuthIndicators (BIMI) Working Group that created BIMI.  

BIMI now has a few thousand users, Blank said in June. Litmus reported in a study that 15% of companies utilize it. 

Sources say BIMI might see greater adoption in light of new privacy laws and Apple’s own Mail Privacy Protection. 

Valimail projects that Apple’s support for BIMI will increase the incentive for other inbox providers, including Microsoft Outlook, Tencent and Netease, to also implement BIMI.

Blank adds, “Apple’s support for BIMI is critical for the growth of the ecosystem. With their participation, hundreds of millions of more inboxes will reap the benefits of enhanced security and a better customer experience which the BIMI standard provides,” Blank noted.