Grey tags are used by businesses to verify their authenticity. It signals to users that Facebook has confirmed the business or organisation is legitimate. Facebook states in their notification regarding the update that they are “working on better ways to show that Pages are authentic.” This is primarily due to users finding the grey tick confusing because they are unsure about the difference between a grey and a blue tick. Additionally, Pages have been impersonated before and have successfully applied for a grey tick as the process to obtain a grey tick isn’t as rigorous as that of the blue tick.
Facebook Organic Impressions for Businesses
Organic impressions will be amended to behave in a similar manner to Facebook Ads. The idea is to reduce the frequency a user sees a single post within a certain timeframe. It is unclear the exact impact this will have on your page but it seems certain that your impression number will drop. The upside is that you may be gaining a more accurate metric as you will still be able to monitor how many people have seen your content, just without the repeat views.
These changes have the potential to be positive in the long term. Once there is a more stringent verification policy your page should be more secure and also maintain it’s legitimacy, however it will mean that Facebook Admins will have to work harder to ensure Facebook Pages appear legitimate. They will need to keep a close eye on all company details and make sure there is a steady stream of fresh content to demonstrate the Company/Page is still thriving. In terms of organic metrics, it may actually provide a more accurate number, however, this is something that will need to be monitored, and whether it will affect engagement remains to be seen.
