Facebook goes celebrity hunting to launch verified pages

Facebook has announced that it's introducing verified pages to help users find the authentic accounts of celebrities, businesses and other high profile subjects. Verified pages will have a blue check mark next to the name both at the top of the page and in search results.

Given that Facebook has long been plagued by fake pages and that Twitter has had verified accounts -- marked by a blue tick, funnily enough -- since 2009, it's perhaps surprising that the social network has taken so long to make this step. On its official blog announcing the news the company says, "Facebook proactively verifies authentic Pages and profiles, but if you believe that you're being impersonated you can always report a fake account."

The blue tick is already starting to appear, with pages including those for teen heart throbs One Direction and Justin Bieber showing as verified. Coverage of tech companies is as yet rather patchy with Google’s page showing as verified whilst Microsoft’s and IBM’s currently aren't.

In line with Twitter's approach of recent times, you can't ask to have your page verified, Facebook decides whether you're genuine or not. This may give the company some problems when dealing with celebrities who have a large local following in a particular country or region but who aren't so well known internationally.