DMARC
DMARC.org is a nonprofit industry working group founded in 2012 that develops and maintains the DMARC email authentication protocol — an open IETF standard used by senders, mailbox providers, and governments worldwide to combat email spoofing and phishing.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What DMARC does
DMARC.org is an unincorporated nonprofit industry working group that develops and maintains the DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) email authentication protocol. Founded in January 2012 by fifteen leading email, financial services, and social media providers — including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, PayPal, Facebook, LinkedIn, Bank of America, and Fidelity — the organization operates as an initiative of the Trusted Domain Project, a tax-exempt public benefit corporation. The DMARC protocol builds on SPF and DKIM by linking authentication to the author's "From:" domain, publishing sender policies in DNS, and enabling aggregate and failure reporting from receivers to senders. The specification has been standardized through the IETF, originally as RFC 7489 in March 2015 and updated to RFCs 9989, 9990, and 9991 in May 2026 when DMARC was moved to the IETF Standards Track.
DMARC.org's core outputs are the protocol specification itself, accompanying documentation (FAQ, articles, tutorials, videos), open code libraries, deployment tools, and aggregate adoption statistics covering DMARC, DKIM, BIMI, and top-site authentication trends. The protocol is published with no licensing restriction; any organization implements DMARC by adding a DNS TXT record, and adoption is driven through the dmarc.org website, industry conferences (JPAAWG, M3AAWG, IETF working groups), and partnerships with bodies such as the Global Cyber Alliance. By the end of 2021 nearly 5 million published DMARC policies were observed, with cumulative deployment metrics reporting approximately 400% growth in DMARC publishing in 2017 and ~800% growth in .GOV domains that year.
DMARC.org is a standards body, not a commercial enterprise. It generates no revenue from the protocol itself, employs 1-10 people, and is funded through industry sponsors including Agari, Comcast, Farsight Security, Google, ReturnPath, Message Systems, PayPal, and ValiMail. Its customer base — in the adoption sense — comprises email senders, mailbox providers, government agencies, and email security vendors worldwide, with over 2 billion consumer mailboxes protected at major providers such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, Comcast, NetEase, Mail.ru, and XS4ALL. Executive Director Steven Jones leads the organization, which continues to operate actively as of May 2026.
DMARC firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- DMARC
- Legal name
- DMARC.org (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)
- Website
- https://dmarc.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- DMARC.org is a nonprofit industry working group founded in 2012 that develops and maintains the DMARC email authentication protocol — an open IETF standard used by senders, mailbox providers, and governments worldwide to combat email spoofing and phishing.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
DMARC industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Email Authentication Standards
- NAICS
- Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Business Associations (813910)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Email Authentication & Domain Protection (DMARC/SPF/DKIM) (HDADAKAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Standards Development & Publishing (SDOs, Technical Standards) (MPAJACAB)
Keywords
Where DMARC is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
DMARC business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Non-profit Standards Organization: DMARC.org is an unincorporated working group dedicated to developing Internet standards to reduce email phishing. It operates as a non-profit initiative supported by sponsors and is not a commercial enterprise generating revenue from products or services.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
DMARC product offering
Product offeringCore offering
DMARC.org develops and stewards the DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) email authentication, policy, and reporting protocol that builds on SPF and DKIM. The organization publishes the IETF standard specifications, supporting documentation (articles, tutorials, videos, FAQ), open source code libraries, deployment tools, and adoption statistics. The specification is made available with no licensing restriction for any organization to implement worldwide.
Product overview
DMARC.org is a technical working group/standards organization, not a commercial product company. The organization develops and promotes the DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) email authentication protocol. The website serves as the central hub for DMARC standards documentation, specifications (RFC 9989, RFC 9990, RFC 9991), tutorials, code libraries, deployment tools, and aggregate statistics on email authentication adoption across the internet. The core offering is the DMARC specification itself, along with educational resources, developer tools, and research data on DMARC/DKIM/SPF/BIMI adoption.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- DMARC Specification Open, IETF-standardized email authentication, policy, and reporting protocol that builds on SPF and DKIM with author-domain linkage, DNS-published handling policies (none/quarantine/reject), and aggregate (RUA) and failure (RUF) reporting from receivers to senders. Made available with no licensing restriction for any organization to implement.
- DMARC Deployment Tools Open resources and tools that organizations can use to deploy DMARC authentication on their email domains, helping senders publish DMARC records, monitor authentication results, and move toward enforcement policies. Available at no cost.
- DMARC/DKIM/BIMI Adoption Statistics Public statistics dashboards tracking adoption and trends for DMARC policies, DKIM key sizes and cryptographic patterns, BIMI record and VMC usage, and historical Alexa Top Sites DMARC/SPF adoption (2015–2017). Provides the ecosystem with a transparent view of email authentication adoption worldwide.
Quantifiable outcome
- Phishing attacks on PayPal decreased by approximately one-third (44% in 2013 vs. 30% in 2014)
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use DMARC
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
DMARC technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
DMARC partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- LinkedIncoreHosted the first ARC protocol interoperability testing event at their San Francisco offices. Representatives from AOL, Google, Cloudmark, Comcast, DMARC.org, Trusted Domain Project, and Message Systems participated.
- PayPalcoreFounding member of DMARC.org. PayPal was one of the 15 original organizations that announced DMARC.org in January 2012. PayPal's Trent Adams served as Chair of DMARC.org.
- FacebookcoreFounding member of DMARC.org. Facebook was one of the 15 original organizations that announced DMARC.org. Facebook's Michael Adkins noted DMARC protects more than 85% of people who receive email from Facebook.
- Google (Gmail)coreFounding member of DMARC.org and major mailbox provider. Google's John Rae-Grant provided statements on Gmail's DMARC implementation. Over 90% of emails received by Gmail users are authenticated.
- Microsoft (Hotmail/Outlook.com)coreFounding member of DMARC.org. Microsoft reported phishing by Outlook.com users dropped more than 50% in 2013 after DMARC adoption.
- Yahoo! MailcoreFounding member of DMARC.org. One of the major consumer mailbox providers supporting DMARC protection.
- America Online (AOL)coreFounding member of DMARC.org. AOL was among the original fifteen organizations that announced DMARC.org. AOL participated in first ARC interoperability testing with Google.
- Bank of AmericacoreFounding member of DMARC.org representing financial services sector. Contributed to developing standards for reducing email phishing threats.
- Fidelity InvestmentscoreFounding member of DMARC.org representing financial services sector.
- LinkedIncoreFounding member of DMARC.org. LinkedIn hosted the first ARC interoperability testing event at their San Francisco offices.
- Trusted Domain ProjectcoreDMARC.org is an initiative of the Trusted Domain Project (TDP), a non-profit and tax-exempt public benefit corporation. TDP is the organizational home for DMARC.org.
- AgarimajorFounding member of DMARC.org and ongoing sponsor. Email security vendor providing DMARC-related products and services.
- CloudmarkmajorFounding member of DMARC.org. Email security solutions provider.
- Global Cyber AlliancemajorPartnered with DMARC.org to release free DMARC implementation tools. GCA released suite of free tools to help organizations deploy DMARC, DKIM, and SPF.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
DMARC competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Trusted Domain Project: DMARC.org's organizational parent — a nonprofit public benefit corporation that provides DMARC.org's legal and operational home. Comparable as the hosting entity for an open email-authentication initiative, with overlapping leadership and mission.
- M3AAWG (Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group): Industry working group where DMARC.org regularly presents and collaborates on anti-abuse messaging standards. Comparable as a nonprofit, multi-stakeholder forum addressing email abuse — DMARC.org is an active participant, not a peer in the commercial sense.
- Global Cyber Alliance (GCA): Nonprofit that partnered with DMARC.org to release free DMARC implementation tools. Operates in the same standards-and-tooling orbit for cybersecurity, with direct co-developed deliverables around DMARC/DKIM/SPF deployment.
- IETF DMARC Working Group: The IETF working group chartered in 2014 that produces the DMARC RFCs. Functionally inseparable from DMARC.org as the formal standards-development venue, with overlapping contributors and participants.
Direct peers
- ValiMail: Commercial DMARC vendor and DMARC.org sponsor/supporter. Provides automated DMARC monitoring, enforcement, and reporting-as-a-service — the closest commercial counterpart that monetizes the very standard DMARC.org maintains.
- dmarcian: Pure-play DMARC vendor offering deployment, monitoring, and managed reporting services to organizations implementing the DMARC standard — directly comparable as a commercial wrapper around the open protocol.
- Validity (ReturnPath / DemandTools): ReturnPath (now Validity) is a DMARC.org sponsor and provides email deliverability, DMARC reporting, and brand-protection services — directly adjacent to DMARC's mission and a key commercial data source for adoption metrics.
Broad incumbents
- Proofpoint (incl. Agari): Major email-security incumbent and DMARC.org sponsor (Agari was a founding member prior to acquisition). Offers enterprise email authentication, anti-phishing, and DMARC compliance as part of a broader security platform.
- Google (Gmail postmaster / safety team): Founding member of DMARC.org and operator of the world's largest consumer mailbox. Gmail's enforcement of DMARC policies (rejecting unauthenticated mail at scale) is the single biggest driver of sender-side adoption.
- Mimecast: Email-security incumbent providing DMARC enforcement and phishing protection as part of an integrated email/collaboration security suite serving mid-market and enterprise customers.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
DMARC social profiles
Digital presenceDMARC financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
DMARC leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
DMARC funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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DMARC M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about DMARC
What does DMARC do?
DMARC.org develops and stewards the DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) email authentication, policy, and reporting protocol that builds on SPF and DKIM. The organization publishes the IETF standard specifications, supporting documentation (articles, tutorials, videos, FAQ), open source code libraries, deployment tools, and adoption statistics. The specification is made available with no licensing restriction for any organization to implement worldwide.
Is DMARC a public or private company?
DMARC is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was DMARC founded?
DMARC was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is DMARC based?
DMARC is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does DMARC make money?
One revenue line is on record: non-profit Standards Organization.
Who are DMARC's main competitors?
Others on record are Trusted Domain Project, M3AAWG (Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group), Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) and IETF DMARC Working Group. Direct peers are ValiMail, dmarcian and Validity (ReturnPath / DemandTools). Broad incumbents are Proofpoint (incl. Agari), Google (Gmail postmaster / safety team) and Mimecast.
Does DMARC have an API?
No public API is recorded for DMARC.
What industry is DMARC in?
DMARC's product category is Email Authentication Standards. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDADAKAC, Email Authentication & Domain Protection (DMARC/SPF/DKIM), with a secondary code of MPAJACAB, Standards Development & Publishing (SDOs, Technical Standards). Its NAICS code is 813 and its SIC code is 8600.