TURNER Explainer: Meta Is Rolling Out Paid Verification—Here's What It Means For Businesses and Brands

Meta—the parent company of Facebook and Instagram—recently announced that it is introducing a paid verification subscription service called Meta Verified, changing how users will be verified on the platform. For $11.99 a month on the web and $14.99 a month on iOS, Instagram and Facebook users will be able to submit their government ID and get a blue verification badge. The service will first roll out in Australia and New Zealand, and more countries will follow.

In order to qualify, users must be at least 18 years old, meet minimum account activity requirements and submit a government ID that matches their profile name and photo. Subscriptions will also include "proactive monitoring" for account impersonation. This move right now is only for individuals, but that will likely change in the future, bringing businesses into the fold.

Business Benefits

Meta has historically granted verification to notable users like politicians, executives, members of the press and organizations to signal their legitimacy. The company's new subscription service is similar to Twitter's revamped service, Twitter Blue, which also grants users a verification badge if they pay a monthly fee. When Meta does roll this option out to businesses, it could be a positive (and also a must-have) as verification can be a valuable tool for building trust with customers and establishing credibility. A verified badge on social media can help to demonstrate that a business is legitimate and can help to increase engagement and reach on social media platforms.

If all businesses do decide to jump onto this service, then it won't be an option anymore; it will be a requirement. The new Verification Subscription service from Meta aims to change the often frustrating process to receive that verified standard. It may also help to level the playing field for businesses, making it easier to compete with larger brands that have already been verified.

Fighting Fake News

Another benefit of the Verification Subscription service is that it will help to reduce the spread of "fake news" and misinformation on Facebook and Instagram. Verified accounts are less likely to engage in fraudulent activity, which means that users can trust the content that they see on these accounts (to an extent).

TURNER Takeaway

Given the mass layoffs at Meta in recent months, the company's move into a paid verification model hints at a lack of innovation from the once-dominant tech giant. It's not so much surprising as it is a little lazy. The benefits of verification may be there to an extent, but other platforms rolled out subscription models in order to lessen their reliance on ad revenue.

Meta, on the other hand, hasn't made any mention of changing business models—so this move feels like a way for the company to squeeze a little extra cash out of users. When Meta Verified becomes available to businesses, it will most likely become the standard; no one wants to be the odd one out, after all. But it feels like yet another necessary evil/annoyance when dealing with Meta.