YouTube is going to remove your verified badge.

YouTube is getting stricter with its verification program in a continued effort to better the site. This will make it tougher to get a verified badge for growing YouTube channels.

Verification is a really important thing for showing up which creator will be shown on the top of YouTube result. The channels which do not meet this requirement of YouTube’s new criteria will get their verification badges removed. YouTube’s current system allows anyone with more than 100,000 subscribers to be verified. Now, YouTube is emphasizing verifying prominent channels that have a “clear need for proof of authenticity,” according to the company. This includes traditional YouTubers, musicians, comedians, and artists, among others.

Channels that no longer meet the requirements will get notified by the YouTube and also they can appeal to the company before the creators lose their badge in late October. Verification is very crucial for channels as it makes a status for the channel that shows it is a prominent member of the community. Getting their verification mark removed will obviously make them feel upset.

Advertisement

The company’s authenticity rules are pretty simple: a channel has to be owned and operated by the person or company it claims to be in order to get a checkmark or other verification mark. For example, Beyoncé’s official channel would have an artist profile icon and a musical note beside her name to show people that the page belongs to the real Beyoncé before, but that’s changing to just a tonal grey background.

YouTube also did tweet about their announcement. The company has released a statement denying the rumors and clarifying its position on the new verification program.

The tweet also specified that checkmarks never appeared on the mobile app, which is where many screenshots circulating around Twitter were originating. YouTube will add the feature soon. “We’re making this change to help everyone determine whether a channel is the official YouTube presence of the creator they’re looking for,” an additional tweet reads. “Please know that badge or no badge, you’re an important part of YouTube.”

Advertisement