Facebook is planning to make its new Timeline format available for brands later this month, according to a report.

Citing "executives briefed on Facebook's plans," Ad Age is reporting that Facebook will use its Feb. 29 conference for marketers in New York to announce the initiative. Facebook will start in beta with a "handful of brands," says Ad Age.

Facebook announced Timeline, its photo-heavy new format for profile pages, in September. Since that time, the company has been vague about if and when Timeline would be rolled out for brands. In December, when the social network rolled out Timeline for all users, a rep told Mashable that brands were not part of that announcement.

Meanwhile, since Facebook announced Timeline, Twitter and Google+ have both rolled out brand pages.

Opening up Timeline gives brands some new options for self-expression on Facebook. In addition to outlining their corporate history (something Lexus already tried via a Facebook app), they can also take advantage of Gestures that go beyond Liking. The design also employs a large image at the top of the Page, which could make the individual Pages more distinctive that the old template. Back in September, we asked some top digital firms to imagine how branded Timeline Pages would look. Their designs are below: