Google is testing a new Chrome feature that could remove one of the biggest sources of friction in customer acquisition: email verification. It’s also another step toward making the browser itself a trusted source of identity.
The experimental Email Verification Protocol (EVP) lets Chrome verify that someone controls an email address without sending a one-time password or magic link. If EVP becomes a regular Chrome feature, it would speed up sign-up flows while improving the quality of first-party customer data.
The feature is currently available through Chrome’s Origin Trial program, where developers can test it on live websites before Google decides whether to add it to the browser. Given Chrome’s market share and Google’s dominance in email, support from Google alone would give the protocol a significant head start.
Fewer steps to complete a signup
Email verification interrupts the moment when someone is ready to convert. Users submit a form, switch to their inbox, wait for an email, then return to finish signing up. Every extra click is another chance to lose them.
EVP keeps that process inside the browser. Instead of sending an email, Chrome gets cryptographic proof from the user’s email provider and passes it directly to the website. If the email provider doesn’t support the protocol, the site simply falls back to today’s verification methods.
For marketers, the payoff is straightforward: less friction between interest and conversion.
The protocol also changes how businesses collect customer data.
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Better first-party data
Instead of confirming ownership through an email message, websites receive proof that the person filling out the form controls the email address. That can reduce fake accounts, typos, and disposable email addresses before they reach CRM and marketing automation systems.
Verified email ownership also improves the quality of the first-party data marketers increasingly rely on as third-party identifiers disappear.
EVP is part of a bigger shift in how the web handles identity.
Browsers are already replacing passwords with passkeys and supporting technologies such as Federated Credential Management (FedCM). EVP extends that role by letting the browser verify email ownership instead of pushing users into their inboxes.
That matters because marketers increasingly depend on the browser to help remove friction from the customer journey. If Google makes EVP a web standard, email verification stops being something marketers optimize around and becomes something the browser simply handles. That leaves marketers free to focus on what happens after someone signs up.
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