Facebook has launched a local recommendation piece as a part of the new parent/child features focusing on local Facebook Place pages.

This feature allows users to easily recommend a local business to their friends, by typing a quick recommendation in the upper right hand corner of the page. Similar to a status update, this action can be targeted to a subset of a user’s friends. The post generates a powerful Newsfeed story, highligting the page in addition to the user’s review. As local businesses look for more ways to engage fans in-store as well as on-line, distinctions like this will help to add value for both fans and the pages seeking to reach them. These simple changes will begin to bridge the gap that currently exists between a user, a brand and the connection he/she establishes with a local business.

Have you taken advantage of Facebook’s changes for the parent/child connection yet? What benefits do you feel this brings to those branded pages you manage in addition?