Facebook Announces Removal of Gray Verification Badges

Facebook Announces Removal of Gray Verification Badges

 

Facebook's making a couple of changes to business Pages, which will impact both presentation and data tracking elements.

First off, as first reported by Marketing Land, Facebook has announced that it's removing all of its gray verified badges, designed to display Page authenticity, as of October 30th.

Facebook's gray verification badges - not the blue ones - are available to all Pages which have verified their official details with Facebook by going through an identification process.

Here's Facebook's official explanation of the difference between gray and blue badge verification: Facebook verified badge explanation

Facebook verified badge explanation
Blue badges will still be present, but as of next month, the gray badges will be gone.

Why is Facebook making this change?

Facebook says that it's decided to get rid of the gray tick based on feedback from users who were unclear on what it actually represented.

Twitter has faced similar confusion with its verification tick, and you can see how, with Facebook having two different versions available, it could be confusing for some people to understand the difference between an official, blue tick verified Page, and a Page that's gone through the more basic ID process for a gray one.

It's also possible for Pages to impersonate official company profiles through this method. Because the gray tick process isn't as stringent, someone could start a duplicate company page, apply for a tick, and present it as the official channel of that business.

Basically, it's unclear, and it's lead to some confusion, so Facebook's seeking to correct it.

Pages with gray badges will soon see notifications like this at the top of their Page display:

Facebook gray badge removal

 

As noted in the above warning, Facebook suggests that business Pages which want to prove their authenticity after October 30th should ensure that their Page profile is complete, including up-to-date information, a profile picture and correct contact information.

In addition to this, Facebook's also making a change to the way in which it calculates organic Page impressions, which could see a reduction in perceived Page and post reach.

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