'Verified apps' coming soon to Facebook

Facebook has announced a revamp of the way it lists and catalogs its directory of third-party developer applications, according to a post on its developer blog, and the most notable update is the debut of the "verified apps" program.

This was first announced in November. Basically, for a $375 fee, Facebook will review developer apps to make sure they fit security and transparency standards, and will award a graphic badge to apps that make the cut.

Security on Facebook has been making headlines in the past few weeks, in the wake of several prominent phishing attacks that have hit the social network. While most have been quickly mitigated, and most did not involve third-party apps, getting the verified apps system in place may help with some image issues for the massive social network.

"Ensuring that applications are trustworthy, meaningful (whether for entertainment or utility value), and easy to find is paramount to developer success, user engagement, and helping the ecosystem as whole to thrive," Facebook's Jerry Cain wrote in the blog post.

Verified apps are also ranked higher in the directory, which is a big deal considering it now contains more than 52,000 applications. The directory has also upgraded its category system so that you can find what you're looking for more easily.

This will all be rolling out in the next few weeks, Cain wrote.

[Leadscribe]

There's way too many apps on Facebook. It's so messy. :[

[t0mmerzl]

I agree. Facebook needs to clean out the old apps that no longer work!

[niall_Bradley]

Nearly all facebook apps are useless, apart from viral game style apps. I've yet to see anything usefull.

[nSeika]

Still prefer they make white list filtering for the apps instead.
Those quizzes are spamming my feed. That?s unsolicited broadcast for me, shouldn?t be one of the ?meaningful? application.

> Verified apps are also ranked higher in the directory,
I take that means unverified application still enter the directory, only ranked lower ?

[ASilva437]

I agree; those stupid quiz apps are currently the main source of spam on Facebook.

[t0mmerzl]

I'm glad Facebook is stepping up and taking responsibility in looking over their apps, etc; MySpace will never do this - because MySpace sucks!