Verified checkmarks used to be a status symbol before Elon Musk ruined everything by allowing plebs to buy said status. However, Google could bring back the status symbol of verified check marks, as the intention seems to be to introduce them into search results.
This is currently just a test, which only a limited subset of Google users will see. But what they see will certainly look familiar to anyone who has been on a social media site in recent years.
The check marks are blue and appear next to business links, indicating good/bad news. The good news is that the plebs don’t have access, the bad news is that influencers and ‘media personalities’ don’t either. At least not now.
Obviously, the check marks are meant to indicate that you’re dealing with a genuine link for the company in question, and that’s definitely a necessary new feature given the spammy infestation of the Google search engine. Unsurprisingly, Google clearly states that it “cannot guarantee the reliability” of a company or its products.
That’s according to Google public affairs spokesperson Molly Shaheen The edge:
We regularly experiment with features that help buyers identify trustworthy companies online. We’re currently running a small experiment where check marks appear next to certain businesses on Google.