Google is starting to roll out verification badges on profiles so users can be sure the person they're adding to a circle is who they claim to be.

For now, Google is focused on verifying public figures, celebrities, and people who have been added to a large number of Circles, but the company is working on expanding this to more folks.

When users visit the profile of a celebrity or public figure, they'll see a verification badge next to their profile name. This will help them determine which profiles are owned by real, verified people.

Google is pushing a policy for its users to identify themselves with their real names on Google+, a principle that has worked well for Facebook.

However, Google faced criticism a few weeks ago when it started aggressively enforcing the real-names policy by deleting many accounts it determined to be in non-compliance.

In response to the complaints, Google said it would modify its notification process to potentially non-compliant users by giving them a chance to fix the violations and appeal instead of deleting their profiles first.