What does the "bis" in DMARCbis mean?
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DMARCbis is a mouthful, and that little "bis" on the end throws people. It is not a version number, not a product, and not a typo. It is a very old word.
"bis" is Latin for "twice," or "again." The people who maintain internet standards have a habit of tacking "bis" onto the name of a spec when they are working on a revised version of it. So DMARCbis reads, quite literally, as "DMARC, again." The second pass at the same standard.
You already know the word from two everyday places:
- At a concert, when the crowd shouts "bis," they are asking for the encore. Play it once more.
- On a European street, the address "10 bis" is the second building at number 10, the one squeezed in next door.
Encore. Next door. Again. Same idea every time.
And that is the genuinely reassuring part. The "bis" is a promise that this is not a new thing to learn or a replacement to migrate to. It is the same DMARC coming back out for a second take, with a few rough edges sanded down. Same record, same p=none through p=reject, same reports. The act you already know, back for an encore.
If you want the short version of what actually got tightened in this second take, read "What is DMARCbis and what does it change?" Or just run your current record through our free DMARC checker and see where you stand.
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