At this point, it’s easy to say that Facebook is constantly and will constantly be changing, so it is crucial to stay informed on what is to come!

It was recently announced that Facebook will be removing gray verification badges from pages as well as updating organic page impression metrics. These changes will impact your business page, and they are now in effect, so keep reading to learn more!

Gray Verification Badge Removal

More likely than not, if you are running a business page on Facebook, you have gone through the process of verifying your business and have received a gray verification badge on your page to prove this.

This gray verification badge, in Facebook’s words, is an indicator that a business or organization’s page has been confirmed as authentic. 

These badges may sound like a legitimate way to know if a page on Facebook is genuine, but Facebook has run into some issues with this verification indicator.

Facebook also has a blue verification badge, which is displayed on a page which has been confirmed as a public figure, celebrity or brand’s authentic Facebook page. As opposed to the gray badge, receiving a blue badge requires a more intensive verification process, and because of this, they haven’t faced the same issues as the gray verification badge.

So, what’s the issue at hand?

Facebook recently enacted the removal of gray verification badges due to issues surrounding its use.

The dissolution of the gray badge addresses both the confusion that comes with having a gray badge, and it will stop the impersonation of business pages by illegitimate sources.

With a page having a gray rather than a blue badge, Facebook users can be confused as to the function and verifiability of the gray badge. Since blue badges are so strongly associated with legitimate businesses and celebrities, this has led to questions regarding the purpose of the gray badge.

As for the presence of duplicated pages with gray verification badges, this can be extremely detrimental to the actual business, which is being impersonated.

While having a gray badge is legitimate, the system has been misused by people who take a business’s information from the actual Facebook page. They then send the information to Facebook to be verified with a gray badge and are eventually approved and run the page acting as the business they stole information from.

By removing this verification badge, Facebook is looking to resolve the issues mentioned above and eventually create an updated verification badge system for those who will be affected by the gray badge removal.

Organic Page Impression Changes

On top of its removal of the gray verification badge, Facebook is planning on changing how it calculates a page’s organic impressions.

The upcoming changes will entail adjustments to limit the inclusion of duplicate metrics relating to a page’s impressions.

These duplicate metrics represent how the sale user can revisit your page and increase your impression metrics. These metrics are not accurate to the number of people who are viewing your content.

If your impression metrics state that 25 people viewed your page, but half of those views were from people revisiting your content, then it is an inaccurate and misrepresentative number to follow.

This removal of metric calculations, that include revisits, will help your business to understand how specific content is performing on your Facebook page with accurate numbers.

In experiencing this change, a dip in impression numbers may occur. This will, however, give your business a chance to get acquainted with the new numbers and make proper strategy changes to improve your impression metrics around these updates.

Click here to read more about Facebook’s other recent changes.

Final Thoughts

While Facebook is continually changing, these changes should be the least of your worries because here at RevLocal, we have your digital marketing handled!

When it comes to business page updates, we have industry experts who are prepared for these changes and available to address your questions and needs.

For more information specialized toward your business, reach out to your digital marketing strategist to learn how these updates may affect your Page.

Not currently a RevLocal client but looking to build a social media strategy? Click here to request a demo from one of our digital marketing consultants.