Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, is extending the availability of paid verification badges to business accounts.
With this change, organizations will be able to purchase a blue checkmark badge that will provide them access to exclusive features and assistance.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly announced this expansion at a recent event, according to reports by Verge. This year, Meta unveiled its $12 monthly subscription for creators called Meta Verified.
In addition to features like priority customer assistance and protection from impersonation, this subscription comes with a blue checkmark symbol.
However, businesses will pay a little bit extra for verification. It will cost $22 a month on Facebook or Instagram, or $35 for both platforms, an increase from the creator pricing, which runs from $12 to $15. In the upcoming weeks, testing for this functionality will start on Facebook and Instagram, with WhatsApp to follow.
What you should know.
Paying companies will get the same benefits as artists, like improved account security features and troubleshooting support.
Additionally, verified businesses will appear more prominently in Facebook and Instagram search results. This entails setting up a web searchable landing page for businesses using WhatsApp and enabling several staff members to interact with and help clients.
Elon Musk’s X, then known as Twitter, saw adjustments that are largely mirrored by Meta’s initial entry into paid verification. At X, paying customers had the choice to pay a monthly charge to obtain a blue checkmark.
However, because of persons impersonating famous people, brands, and even the pope with identical confirmed blue checkmarks, the system was abused. Later, X offered paid users the choice to utilize a government ID to confirm their identity.
It is important to note that Meta’s business verification will have certain activity and security criteria, and applicants will need to demonstrate their affiliation with the company.
In a related move, Meta recently launched its Instagram Threads app, which is thought to be a rival to Elon Musk’s Twitter app because it has many of the same capabilities.
By combining the finest features of Instagram with a new text-based experience, Mark Zuckerberg characterizes Threads as an open and welcoming environment for public conversation.
Elon Musk accused Meta of employing former Twitter employees to steal trade secrets, which led to the birth of Threads, and this move by Meta caused some controversy.
Twitter reacted by threatening to sue Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that Meta had hired multiple former Twitter workers with access to confidential information, in violation of both state and federal law and their ongoing duties to Twitter.
Twitter vowed to zealously defend its IP rights and demanded that Meta stop using any of its trade secrets or private data.
