Does BIMI require strict alignment between From and return-path domains?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks responds maybe they care about it for other reasons, but it’s not required for BIMI, at least from their experience.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce states that BIMI relies on DMARC authentication, necessitating alignment between the 'From' domain and either the DKIM or SPF records. Both strict and relaxed alignment modes are permissible.
Email marketer from Valimail explains that BIMI relies on DMARC, which in turn requires alignment. This means the domain in the 'From' address must match either the SPF or DKIM domain. Relaxed alignment is generally sufficient, but strict alignment provides an extra layer of security.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester responds that BIMI needs DMARC to work, and DMARC needs alignment. The 'From' domain must align with the DKIM or SPF records. Relaxed alignment is usually sufficient.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares from their experience, as long as it passes DMARC it will show up the logo. They have a customer using Mailchimp, where the return path and the From don’t match but DKIM passes alignment and it shows.
Email marketer from OnlyDomains shares that BIMI depends on DMARC for authentication and that requires SPF or DKIM to pass and align. Alignment can be achieved using relaxed or strict alignment modes. So the domain in your 'From' address should match either your DKIM signing domain or the domain authorized by SPF.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that BIMI authenticates via DMARC, requiring either SPF or DKIM to pass and align with the 'From' domain. DMARC alignment can be strict or relaxed, both being suitable for BIMI.
Email marketer from EmailGeeks Forum posts, 'As long as your email passes DMARC with either strict or relaxed alignment, BIMI should work. I've seen it work with relaxed alignment just fine.'
Email marketer from EasyDMARC explains that for BIMI to function, DMARC must be properly configured with either strict or relaxed alignment. The domain in the 'From' header must align with the DKIM or SPF record.
Email marketer from Proofpoint shares that BIMI uses DMARC for authentication and requires alignment between the domain in the 'From' header and the DKIM or SPF records. The alignment can be either strict or relaxed.
Email marketer from Reddit says in a forum, 'BIMI uses DMARC. DMARC requires alignment. So, the domains must align, but relaxed alignment is enough in most cases. Check your DMARC record.'
What the experts say1Expert opinion
Expert from Spam Resource, John Levine, explains that BIMI requires DMARC, which requires that the domain in the From: header match the d= domain in the DKIM signature, or the domain used for SPF. This alignment can be strict or relaxed, according to the DMARC policy.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from BIMI Group specifies that BIMI leverages DMARC for authentication. DMARC requires either strict or relaxed identifier alignment to pass. For SPF, the Return-Path domain must align with the From domain. For DKIM, the d= domain in the DKIM signature must align with the From domain.
Documentation from dmarcian clarifies that BIMI needs a valid DMARC record. DMARC alignment modes (strict or relaxed) impact whether the domain in the 'From' header needs to perfectly match the DKIM signing domain or the SPF authorized domain. Either alignment is suitable for BIMI
Documentation from Fastmail states that BIMI requires DMARC to be set up and passing. The DMARC policy needs to have either strict or relaxed alignment between the domain in the 'From' address and the DKIM or SPF records.