Google is testing out blue checkmarks for search results

Google Search can help you find the websites you’re looking for, but it can also lead you to junk websites. To make it easier to tell if a website is legit, the Mountain View-based firm is experimenting with a new verification feature for its search engine.

According to The Verge, some users are starting to see a blue verification checkmark next to business links in their search results. The checkmarks have been spotted on official sites for Microsoft, Meta, Epic Games, Apple, Amazon, and HP so far. It seems that this experiment has not been rolled out widely yet as the outlet says the checkmarks disappeared after they switched accounts.

When asked about the test, a spokesperson for Google told The Verge:

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

If you hover over the checkmark, a box will appear with a message that reads, “Google’s signals suggest that this business is the business that it says it is. Google can’t guarantee the reliability of this business or its products.” Apparently, these signals refer to things such as website verification, Merchant Center data, and manual reviews.

Furthermore, the publication suggests that this experiment may be an extension of the Brand Indictors for Message Identification (BIMI) feature found in Gmail. You may not be familiar with the name of this Gmail feature, but you’ve likely seen the blue checkmark next to a brand’s name, like in the screenshot above.

It remains to be seen how much help these checkmarks will be. At the very least, it shouldn’t be a big mess like the checkmark situation over there on X (formerly Twitter).

Google has not officially announced this feature yet. We have reached out to Google for further comment on the feature and we’ll update this article when more information is available.