To confirm a sender’s identity, Gmail adds a New Blue Tick Option to verify Businesses, will start showing a recognizable blue checkmark next to their name. According to a blog post by Google, the function is meant to assist users in determining if the email they have received is from a reliable source or a scammer.
Significance of the Blue Tick
The verified checkmark expands on the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) function that already exists in Gmail. This necessitates businesses to verify that the brand logo they are using as their email avatar is indeed theirs, as that is what users are meant to be able to deduce from the email. Companies with BIMI adoption already in place will have a checkbox next to their name.
Hovering over the checkmark reveals that “the sender of this email has verified” that they are the owners of the domain and profile image that are being used to send the email, as seen in the example provided by Google. Email authentication, according to Google, can “identify and stop spam” for users and security systems alike while also enabling senders to “leverage their brand trust.”
Gmail adds a New Blue Tick Option to verify Businesses;
Rolling out Soon
Although Twitter’s mess with verification has recently made headlines, everyone else—from Tinder to Pinterest to YouTube—uses some variation of the icon. Meta has also recently begun a test of selling verification for Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Users may find it easier to recognize trustworthy senders now that Google has added a more noticeable checkmark, especially if they are unsure of the significance or legitimacy of an email that contains a BIMI-approved emblem. It is consistent with Google’s recent change to Chrome’s address bar, which changed the lock icon to a “tuner” icon to show that a website is using the safer HTTPS protocol without, hopefully, leading users to believe it must be a trustworthy website.
You may soon start noticing blue checkmarks invading your emails as Gmail begins to roll out verified checkmarks across Workspace accounts and personal Google accounts today.
