Google has announced that it is adding checkmarks in Gmail, yes blue in true Twitter style, to emails sent by companies. This is positive, as it will help users to be sure of the legitimacy of the email sender. With this feature, when a new email from a verified company arrives in your Gmail inbox and you open it, you can see a blue verification element next to the sender’s name (in true Twitter style, it must be said, but with quite a different implementation). A move that’s important at Gmail This is because scams and spam have always been a problem for email providers like Gmail and users. Hackers still use spoofing in phishing attacks to trick unsuspecting users into thinking the email is from a real source like a bank or shopping site. If you don’t verify the sender’s email address, you could fall for the scam and possibly even lose access to your account, your identity, and your money. In an attempt to protect users, Google added support for Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) in 2021. The feature allowed participating companies to add and verify their brand logo with the aforementioned option. The image is then used as the sender’s avatar in emails sent to users. The user, in turn, could look at the image and know that the email was sent by a real company. It also looks a lot better than having the first letter of the sender’s name appear as their profile picture. The sender image method worked for a while, until hackers began using similar images to impersonate companies and scam users. This is precisely what Google wants to combat. That is why the Mountain View company is implementing blue verification checks for brands. The new feature expands on BIMI’s Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting and Compliance (DMARC) for organizations that have adopted the standard. A simple app that is very useful The blue checkmark appears right next to the sender’s name. The badge also displays a message after hovering over the icon, stating that “the sender of the email has verified that they own the domain and logo.” Google believes that this option will provide strong email authentication, and will help both users and email security systems to identify and stop spam. You don’t have to do anything to enable the new feature (and you don’t have to pay anything either), as it’s a change that’s made on Gmail’s servers. Google has confirmed that blue badges in emails will be rolled out to all users in the coming days. >