Google is bringing verified checkmarks to its search engine | Infinium-tech

Verified checkmarks used to be a status symbol, before Elon Musk ruined everything by allowing people to buy said status. However, Google may be bringing back the status symbol nature of verified checkmarks, as it seems it intends to include them in its search results.

At the moment this is just a test, which only a limited subset of Google users are seeing. But what they’re seeing will certainly sound familiar to anyone who’s been on a social media site over the past few years.

The checkmarks are blue and appear next to business links, making it a case of good news/bad news. The good news is that ordinary people don’t have access, the bad news is that influencers and “media personalities” don’t either. At least not yet.

Obviously, the checkmarks are there to indicate that you’re dealing with an actual link to the company in question, and it’s definitely a necessary new feature, given how spam-infested the Google search engine is. Yet, surprisingly, Google clearly states that it “cannot guarantee the reliability” of a business or its products.

Google public affairs spokesperson Molly Shaheen said The Verge,

We regularly experiment with features that help shoppers identify trustworthy businesses online, and we’re currently running a small experiment showing checkmarks next to certain businesses on Google.