The move forms part of the launch today of Global Pages, which will provide localised experiences for a brand’s customers. Facebook users will now be directed to the best version of a page according to thier location.

Facebook product marketing manager Kelly Winters explains in a blog post: “In addition to providing better localised experiences for your customers, we want to make it easier for you to measure your audience in each country as well as benchmark your brand against other brands you care about.

“Later this year we will include the country-level fan counts for all pages – both those using the Global Pages framework as well as pages that haven’t transitioned to the new framework – publicly in our API. This will enable your internal teams to track how each market is performing, as well as to compare your fan base on a country-by-country level with other pages on Facebook by accessing the data available via our API.”

Facebook says the structure will work for brands that have historically managed a single page with geo-targeted page posts, as well as for those that have managed multiple, country-specific pages. Unilever, Walt Disney, InterContinental Hotels Group and Nestlé are among the first brands to try it.