Have you noticed the big red notification at the top of your Facebook page that says, “Gray Badges Will be Removed October 29th?” Don’t be alarmed, Facebook is now starting to notify verified Facebook Pages that they will be removing these types of verification for all pages.
Before we go further, you should know that you have NOTHING to worry about. Besides the removal of that little gray badge, nothing will change about your page or how people find and interact with you.
Why is Facebook Removing the Gray Verification Badge?
The small gray verification badge is going to be removed because some Facebook users are unclear of what the badge represents.
“Based on feedback, we’re removing the gray badge and focusing on other ways for businesses to show their authenticity on Facebook,” said a Facebook spokesperson.
Gray badges were mostly used by small businesses to prove their pages legitimacy.
Facebook went on to say:
“We’re always working on better ways to help people understand more about the Pages they interact with. We introduced grey verification badges in 2015 to show which Pages for businesses and organizations are authentic. However, we’ve found that they can be more confusing than helpful, so we’re removing them by October 30th.”
What You Need to Do Moving Forward
The short answer is nothing…for now.
The long answer is that Facebook will most likely reveal more information shortly on how small and larger businesses can gain verification. For those in industries where gaining trust of your audience/customers is critical (this should be a focus for everyone), then it may be time to add more video content of your process, people, and team. Show more authentic content and focus on providing valuable information.
As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns right here!
