Why is my animated sender logo not showing in Gmail for new subscribers?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 2 Aug 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
7 min read
It can be frustrating when your animated sender logo, a key part of your brand identity, doesn't appear for new subscribers in Gmail. While animated GIFs have been a creative way to stand out, their consistent display as sender avatars, especially for new contacts, has become increasingly complex.
Many senders have relied on a method involving setting their profile picture in a Google account associated with their sending email address. This approach, sometimes informally called a 'hack,' allowed for animated GIFs to appear next to sender names in the inbox.
However, the landscape of how inbox providers display sender information is constantly evolving. What worked consistently a year ago might not work today, especially with the push towards more secure and standardized methods like BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification).
The challenge with Gmail logos
Gmail's handling of sender logos is nuanced. For established contacts, Gmail often caches sender avatars, meaning if a recipient has previously received emails from you and your animated logo appeared, it might continue to do so.
This caching mechanism explains why some existing subscribers still see your animated logo, while new subscribers might not. When a new recipient receives an email from your domain for the first time, Gmail's systems perform fresh checks. These checks might be stricter or simply not honor the older, less standardized methods for animated avatars.
The informal Google profile image method often relied on associating your sending email address with a Google account's profile picture. While this sometimes worked for animated GIFs, it was never an official, robust solution for mass mailings or consistent brand display. Its reliability has significantly decreased over time, especially for bulk senders.
The shifting landscape of sender logos
Historically, setting a Google profile picture was a common tactic for displaying a logo next to your emails in Gmail. However, for new recipients and bulk email, this method has become unreliable.
Understanding BIMI and its limitations for animations
Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is an email standard designed to display your brand's logo next to your authenticated emails. To implement BIMI, you need strong email authentication policies (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for your logo. While BIMI offers significant benefits for brand trust and recognition, it specifically requires your logo to be in SVG format, which does not support animation.
This means that a standard, officially implemented BIMI logo will always be static. If you're seeing an animated logo, it's not due to a traditional BIMI implementation. Some senders use a workaround known as 'AniBIMI,' which involves setting an animated GIF as their Googleprofile picture, as a non-BIMI approach. This unofficial method is subject to Gmail's internal heuristics and caching behavior, which often differ for new subscribers.
Factors influencing logo display for new subscribers
The primary factor influencing whether any sender logo, animated or static, appears is your domain's sending reputation and proper email authentication. Gmail is very protective of its users' inboxes, and if your emails lack proper authentication or your domain has a low reputation, images (including sender logos) may be suppressed or even blocked.
For new subscribers, especially, Gmail errs on the side of caution. If your email is flagged as suspicious for any reason, images may not be shown, regardless of your profile settings. This is a common security measure to protect users from malicious content. You can read more about Gmail's image display settings.
Ensuring proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are crucial. These authentication protocols verify that your emails are indeed from your domain and haven't been tampered with. Without them, your emails are more likely to land in spam folders or have their content, including logos, suppressed. Learn more in our simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.
Authentication best practices for logo visibility
SPF and DKIM: Ensure your SPF and DKIM records are correctly configured and aligned. This is the foundation of trust.
DMARC policy: Implement a DMARC policy, even starting with p=none to monitor your email authentication. Stronger policies (p=quarantine or p=reject) significantly boost trust.
Monitor reputation: Regularly check your domain's reputation using Google Postmaster Tools to ensure healthy sending practices. A low reputation can lead to images being blocked.
Technical and practical considerations
Beyond authentication and reputation, several technical details can affect whether your animated logo appears. First, ensure your GIF is optimized for email. Large file sizes can lead to images being stripped or not rendering correctly, especially on mobile devices or slower connections. Keep the file size small and the animation brief.
Also, consider where your image is hosted. Some email clients, including Gmail, might have stricter policies on images hosted on untrusted or less reputable domains. Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) or a trusted image hosting service can improve reliability, though this applies more to images within the email body than the sender avatar itself.
It is also important to remember that not all email clients support animated GIFs for sender avatars. While Gmail has historically allowed it via the profile picture method, this behavior is not guaranteed across all platforms. BIMI, the industry-standard way to display logos, intentionally uses static SVG files for consistency and security across supporting clients like Yahoo and Apple Mail.
Animated logo (via profile hack)
Animated GIF image set as Google account profile picture.
Consistency: Highly inconsistent, especially for new subscribers due to caching and evolving Gmail policies.
Security: Not tied to email authentication, offers no enhanced security or trust signals.
Effort: Relatively low effort to set up initially, but unreliable results.
BIMI (static logo)
Static SVG logo verified by a VMC and tied to DMARC authentication.
Consistency: Consistent display across supporting email clients (Gmail, Yahoo Mail).
Security: Enhances security and trust by requiring DMARC and a VMC.
Effort: Requires proper email authentication and VMC acquisition.
If you're primarily using Gmail for personal use and sending to a limited number of contacts, the animated Google profile image might still work for some recipients due to caching effects. However, for professional email marketing or transactional emails, relying on this method for animated logos is not advisable due to its inconsistency and lack of official support.
For broader and more reliable logo display, especially for bulk emails, focusing on a robust BIMI implementation with a static, verified logo is the recommended path. This will ensure your brand logo appears consistently for all recipients on supporting platforms, building stronger brand recognition and trust.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are fully implemented and aligned for your sending domain.
Maintain a high sender reputation to encourage inbox providers to display all email elements.
Consider a static BIMI logo with a VMC for reliable brand display across more email clients.
Common pitfalls
Relying solely on the Google profile picture for animated logos for new subscribers.
Not having robust email authentication, which can suppress all images.
Using overly large or unoptimized GIF files for sender avatars, causing display issues.
Expert tips
Test emails with new Gmail accounts to see how your logo appears for first-time recipients.
Monitor your domain's health with tools like Google Postmaster Tools for any red flags.
Prioritize email authentication over unofficial animated logo methods for long-term deliverability.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says they just signed up for a newsletter, and the subscription confirmation email showed a standard Gmail avatar, but the actual newsletter displayed the animated logo.
2024-12-13 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says they are running tests and found that the GIF avatar no longer loads when emailing users for the first time, though existing users who were previously emailed from that domain still see it, suggesting Gmail might be caching avatars.
2024-12-13 - Email Geeks
Navigating logo visibility in Gmail
The display of animated sender logos in Gmail, particularly for new subscribers, is a complex issue influenced by caching, sender reputation, and evolving email client policies. While animated GIFs can be engaging, the reliance on unofficial methods for sender avatars carries inherent risks of inconsistency.
For brands aiming for consistent, reliable logo display, investing in proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and implementing BIMI with a static, verified logo is the most dependable strategy. This approach not only ensures your logo appears consistently on supporting platforms like Yahoo and Gmail, but also strengthens your overall email security and deliverability.
Prioritize a solid foundation of email authentication and domain reputation. While the allure of an animated logo is strong, consistency and trust are paramount in ensuring your messages not only reach the inbox but also represent your brand effectively.
Gmail. While animated GIFs have been a creative way to stand out, their consistent display as sender avatars, especially for new contacts, has become increasingly complex.
Google account associated with their sending email address. This approach, sometimes informally called a 'hack,' allowed for animated GIFs to appear next to sender names in the inbox.
Google account's profile picture. While this sometimes worked for animated GIFs, it was never an official, robust solution for mass mailings or consistent brand display. Its reliability has significantly decreased over time, especially for bulk senders.
Google Postmaster Tools to ensure healthy sending practices. A low reputation can lead to images being blocked.
Yahoo and 
Apple Mail.
SVG logo verified by a VMC and tied to DMARC authentication.
