Hello, Google Search! How’s it going? It seems you’ve been encountering a few bumps in the road lately, with scams creeping into your search results and your AI sidekick, Gemini, suggesting bizarre pizza toppings like glue. Could this be the reason behind your trial of Twitter-like verification badges next to verified URLs in search results?
The Verge has reported seeing these verification badges beside well-known brands in Google search results, directing users to their respective websites. Companies such as Amazon, Apple, Epic Games, HP, Meta, and Microsoft have been highlighted, though the badges don’t appear consistently for all users—sometimes even for the same person on different accounts.
According to the pop-up accompanying the badge, “This icon is being shown because Google’s signals suggest that this business is the business that it says it is,” humorously avoiding a definition for “tautology.” The disclaimer wraps up with a legal note: “Google can’t guarantee the reliability of this business or its products.”
This shift towards recognizable visual cues aligns with how many users perceive legitimacy, despite the fallout from Twitter’s verification system after Musk’s takeover. The colored checkmarks still represent credibility within social media contexts.
However, implementing this feature across the web could pose logistical challenges, and Google’s cautious messaging hints at concerns regarding liability. The future of this feature as a standard part of Google Search remains uncertain.