Why is the wrong logo showing up in Yahoo with BIMI and how to fix it?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 12 May 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
6 min read
It can be frustrating when you've invested time and effort into setting up Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI), only to find that the wrong logo is appearing in Yahoo Mail. This issue can undermine your brand's visual identity and trust with recipients.
BIMI allows you to display your brand's logo next to your authenticated email messages, enhancing brand recognition and trust. However, the exact display can vary across email clients. Yahoo (like Gmail and Apple Mail) is a major supporter of BIMI support in Yahoo Mail, but sometimes an incorrect logo can slip through, often due to caching or configuration errors.
This situation often points to underlying technical issues with your BIMI record or how Yahoo's systems are processing it. Identifying the root cause requires a systematic approach, checking everything from your DNS records to the specifics of your logo file.
The foundations of BIMI
For your BIMI logo to display correctly (or at all), you must have robust email authentication in place. This primarily means having SPF, DKIM, and DMARC properly configured for your sending domain. Without these foundational protocols, BIMI cannot function, and email providers like Yahoo will ignore your BIMI record.
Specifically for Yahoo, your DMARC policy must be set to either p=quarantine or p=reject. A p=none policy, while useful for monitoring, will prevent your BIMI logo from appearing. Additionally, if your DMARC policy uses the pct tag, its value must be 100 to ensure all messages are subjected to the policy. This is a crucial requirement that many overlook when troubleshooting.
Verify that your SPF and DKIM records are also correctly aligned with your DMARC policy. Yahoo, like other major email providers, relies heavily on this authentication chain to validate sender legitimacy before considering BIMI. If any part of this chain is broken, your logo simply won't display, or the wrong one might appear as a fallback.
Common BIMI configuration errors leading to incorrect logos
One of the most frequent causes of an incorrect logo displaying is an improperly formatted SVG file. The BIMI specification has strict requirements for the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) image. Even a minor deviation can cause Yahoo's systems to reject your intended logo and fall back to an older, cached, or generic image, if available.
SVG requirements
SVG version: Your SVG must be version 1.2, not 1.1 or any other version.
Base profile: It must have the base profile tiny-ps and conform to its standards. This is a common point of failure.
Title element: Your SVG file must include a <title> element.
HTTPS hosting: The logo file must be hosted on a secure link starting with https://. Insecure links are not supported.
While not strictly required by the core BIMI specification for all providers, a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) is often recommended, especially for certain email clients like Google. A VMC provides an extra layer of trust, digitally signing your logo and explicitly linking it to your verified brand. Without a VMC, some providers might be more prone to displaying a fallback logo or no logo at all if they perceive any ambiguity in the BIMI record.
Yahoo's caching and fallback behavior
Even if your BIMI DNS record and SVG file are perfectly configured, Yahoo Mail's caching mechanisms can sometimes cause an outdated or incorrect logo to persist. This is particularly true if your domain previously had an old logo associated with it, or if you recently updated your logo.
Yahoo's systems might store a version of your logo in their cache. If a new BIMI record or SVG is deployed, it can take time for this cache to refresh. In some cases, if the BIMI validation fails (even temporarily), Yahoo might fall back to other sources for a brand logo, such as publicly available images linked to your domain or brand profiles on social media platforms like Twitter.
This fallback behavior is intended to provide some visual identity even when BIMI is not perfectly set up, but it can obviously lead to the display of an unintended or outdated logo. To address this, fixing the underlying BIMI issues is paramount, as Yahoo will then prioritize the correctly configured BIMI logo.
Troubleshooting and verification
Diagnosing why the wrong logo is showing up requires a systematic approach. First, you should use an online BIMI checker to validate your BIMI record and SVG file. These tools can highlight issues such as incorrect SVG versions, missing elements, or problems with your DMARC policy. If the BIMI group's own inspector is down, other tools are available that can provide similar insights.
Troubleshooting checklist
DMARC policy: Ensure your DMARC policy is at enforcement (p=quarantine or p=reject) and that pct=100. Verify DMARC.
SVG file: Check your SVG Tiny PS format, version (1.2), and the presence of a <title> element. You can use an SVG validator to ensure compliance.
BIMI record: Verify the BIMI DNS TXT record is correct and pointing to the right SVG URL. If BIMI is on a subdomain, consider adding it to the root domain as well.
VMC: While optional, obtaining a Verified Mark Certificate can enhance trust and ensure consistent logo display, especially in demanding environments like Yahoo Mail.
After making any corrections, it's essential to monitor your BIMI logo display across various email clients, including Yahoo. Remember that propagation and cache updates can take some time, so patience is key. However, persistent issues indicate a deeper configuration problem that needs further investigation using the steps above.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Ensure DMARC is set to p=quarantine or p=reject with a pct=100 for Yahoo to display BIMI. P=none won't work.
Always validate your SVG Tiny PS file rigorously; even minor errors can lead to the wrong logo appearing.
Consider a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for maximum trust and consistent logo display across all supporting mail clients.
Host your SVG logo on a secure HTTPS URL, otherwise, it will not be used by mail providers.
Implement BIMI on both root and subdomain levels if you use both for sending emails.
Common pitfalls
Using an SVG file that is not version 1.2 or lacks the tiny-ps base profile will cause it to be rejected.
Forgetting to include a <title> element within your SVG file can lead to validation errors.
Assuming Yahoo's cache will immediately clear; it can take time, sometimes requiring direct contact for urgent issues.
Not aligning all three email authentication protocols: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Not having a DMARC policy that is sufficiently strict (p=none) will prevent BIMI from working.
Expert tips
Use a reliable online SVG validator specifically for BIMI compliance to catch subtle errors.
If the wrong logo persists, contact Yahoo's postmaster team (mail-questions@yahooinc.com) directly to inquire about cache issues or old associations.
Monitor your DMARC reports for any authentication failures, as these can indirectly impact BIMI display.
Test your BIMI setup by sending emails to Yahoo accounts after every change to observe the logo behavior.
Some providers may fallback to other brand registries if BIMI isn't configured correctly or if there are issues with the VMC, so checking those sources might also be helpful.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says they had an issue where a wrong logo from pre-2018 was showing up for a subdomain, and they suspected Yahoo's caching was pulling in the old image.
2025-02-25 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that several issues with the SVG file, specifically its version, base profile, and missing title element, are likely causing the problem.
2025-02-25 - Email Geeks
Ensuring brand consistency
An incorrect BIMI logo showing up in Yahoo Mail can be a perplexing issue, but it typically stems from a few core areas: misconfigured DMARC policies, improperly formatted SVG logo files, or Yahoo's internal caching mechanisms. Each of these components must be meticulously checked to ensure proper display.
By diligently verifying your DMARC enforcement, ensuring your SVG adheres to all technical specifications (especially for SVG Tiny PS), and considering the impact of caching, you can effectively troubleshoot and resolve most issues related to the wrong logo appearing. Persistence and attention to detail are key to maintaining your brand's visual integrity in the inbox.
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