Gmail now also has blue checkmarks to signify verification
As part of the new feature, Google says it will display a familiar-looking blue checkmark next to a sender’s name to help users determine whether the email on Gmail is legitimate or malicious.
Verified checkmarks build on Gmail’s existing Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI). A company must authenticate the brand logo they are using as their email avatar in order to ensure that users know that it actually belongs to them. Companies that have already implemented BIMI will receive the checkmark automatically.
When hovering over the checkmark, it says that “the sender of this email has verified” that they own the domain and profile image associated with the email they’re sending. As Google notes, email authentication can be helpful for both users and security systems since it helps identify and stop spam, as well as enable senders to “leverage trust in their brands.”
There has been much attention paid to Twitter’s verification mess recently, but many other sites use the same icon, including Tinder, Pinterest, and YouTube, and Meta started testing the sale of Facebook and Instagram verification.
Users might be able to identify genuine senders more easily now that Google offers a more visible checkmark, especially if they don’t know what a BIMI-approved logo means or if it’s legitimate.
As a result, Chrome’s address bar displays a “tuner” icon rather than a lock, indicating that a website is using the safer HTTPS protocol, but hopefully not causing visitors to assume it is a legitimate site.
The verified checkmarks are rolling out over the next few days to both Workspace accounts and personal Google accounts, so you might start seeing them in your emails very soon.
