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Comment by igneo676 | Hacker News Reader

I don't think I've ever seen a "Verified by Google" badge on a website. Looking into it, apparently you're under a different set of API usage policies and only a limited set of uses.

I'm guessing according to this https://developers.google.com/terms/api-services-user-data-p... slimbox falls under the following

1. Native and web email clients that allow users to compose, send, read, and process email via a user interface

3. Applications that enhance the email experience for productivity purposes (such as applications for customer relationship management, delayed sending of email, or mail merge)

Interesting stuff! I don't see where that badge comes from though. It implies to me more than "I accept the Google policies and have followed a couple hoops to allow usage of these APIs" and more of a relationship with Google

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If you scroll down that link you sent, you'll see where Google talks about recently introduced "Restricted Scopes".

When we say that we are "Verified by Google", it is because we have been verified by Google as complying with their OAuth policies for Restricted Scopes. You can see the detailed requirement process here: https://support.google.com/cloud/answer/9110914#restricted-s...

Note: I hope that doesn't come off the wrong way, there is literally a rigorous verification process that you must meet to be verified to connect to the Gmail API via OAuth.

To your point about the badge: we believe Google should provide this type of badge to developers that have paid between $15,000 - $75,000 for the third-party security audit to be able to be even considered verified by Google. Unfortunately, all you get is an email and a fat receipt.

So, we made this badge ourselves. I can understand your point of view that this implies more of a relationship with Google. That is totally fair. If you look at our back and forth with their Trust & Security team last year to secure this verification, you might feel like we had a relationship with them too, haha.

We certainly don't want it to be problematic or misleading. We do think it's important for users to realize that our app is indeed verified and safe to connect to.

You might want to reconsider that badge.

https://www.google.com/permissions/logos-trademarks/

“Google G: Third parties are not permitted to use the Google G. It’s reserved for Google products and marketing materials.”

We may need to shift to something that makes it clear that we aren't a Google product (based on this thread). You're 100% correct regarding the Google "G" usage as you point out.

Clean Email has a nice simple banner at the top of their page announcing their Google verification with a simple generic emoji. It's a good alternative to a more formal badge. https://clean.email/

I've added this topic to our weekly sprint review. Appreciate the comment.

Ah, that context is really good to know

IMO that badge really cheapens the look and feel of your site and caused me to scrutinize it WAY more than if it hadn't of been there. If it's not official, it's always going to be suspect

Wow, very interesting. We were hoping the badge would bring more authority, but super helpful to hear otherwise. Thanks.

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