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Blue checkmarks have headmaster: consensual eroticism for lovers of literatureappeared next to certain websites on Google Search for some users.

According to a report from The Verge, this is because Google is experimenting with a verification feature to let users know that sites aren't fraudulent or scams. A staffer from The Verge was one of the users who noticed blue checkmarks showing up on links to the official sites for Microsoft, Meta, Epic Games, Apple, Amazon, and HP.

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By hovering over the checkmark, a message pops up, saying "This icon is being shown because Google's signals suggest that this business is the business that is says it is."

A Google spokesperson confirmed the experiment, telling Mashable, "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."

We don't know whether this feature would expand beyond commercial sites to, say, verifying sites that aren't AI-generated spam reportedly boosted by Google News. AI-generated slop aside, a 2024 German study found "a torrent of low-quality content, especially for product search, keeps drowning [out] any kind of useful information in search results." It's unclear what's motivating Google to test out a verification feature, or whether it will ever ship, but it would be a welcome change for frustrated users who feel like Google Search has gotten worse. Mashable has reached out to Google for more detail on the feature and will update this story with any further comment.

The feature might be related to Google's Gmail feature which adds blue checkmark badges to email senders as part of its participation in the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) group.

Google did not respond to a request for comment on future plans for this tool and motivations behind its development.