Khris Loux, the CEO of startup JS-Kit, thinks he’s finally come up with the killer widget. JS-Kit has all sorts of widgets used by blogs and other sites for ratings, reviews, polls, and comments. But the latest one he just launched is not just gee-whiz cute. It’s gee-whiz disruptive.
It is called the JS-Kit Advisor. And it will bring ratings and reviews from trusted sources such as Experian and JD Power to businesses and product listings across the Web. The first data partner to go live is Experian, which is known for its consumer credit scores. But Experian also keeps financial and other background-check information on 22 million local businesses across the country. For instance, Experian powers ContractorCheck.com, its own Website where consumers can buy $10 background-check reports on local general contractors. But now Experian is taking some of that same key information and giving it away for free in JS-Kit’s widget.
A local listings site could install the widget and then anytime someone looked up a contractor, the widget would pop up and show them if the contractor’s license is expired, how much they are bonded for, and whether they have any liens or judgments against them, as well as their credit and bankruptcy history. “In other words,” says Loux, “all of the information that a bank uses to judge you, the consumer—the consumer can now use to judge a business, prior to clicking through.”
A green check means the contractor can be trusted, a red X means keep looking. The widget does not give the full details of a report, but enough for a consumer to know whether to steer clear of a certain contractor. Loux explains the concept:
I want to make sure the guy is not a dirt bag. This will bring more data around the point of the transaction. If a guy has a green check mark, he can grab it and show it off. The guy with the red check will hide the fact that he is a dirt bag and try to do marketing and SEO stuff. Those who are winners will win more and those who are scumbags will die faster.
It’s good marketing for Experian, and maybe it will end up selling the more in-depth reports to banks or those contractors with a red X next to their name who want to see how it got there.
But isn’t all that marketing and “SEO stuff” how directories and local search engines make money, by selling ads to those guys? “Web publishers will start competing using the truth,” responds Loux, always the idealist. Yet business directory sites like MojoPages and Spoke are already working to integrate the background-check widgets into their listings. If bigger sites like Yelp or CitySearch ever followed suit, unscrupulous contractors would have nowhere left to hide.
PO BOX 100
JULIAN, CA 92036
38 MILLER AVE
MILL VALLEY, NV 94941
You can try it here by clicking on each contractor’s name in the simplified listings at left. The top one has a green check, the bottom one has a red check. When the widget pops up, click on the different tabs for more information.
The idea behind this widget goes way beyond exposing Experian’s data, although that is pretty awesome in and of itself. The widget can have many tabs, each with a different source of data. Loux has also struck a deal with JD Power to provide product review summaries, and with FamilyWatchDog to incorporate its health records for restaurants, product-recall information, sex offender listings. He has hopes for convincing more companies to add their data for job listings and other categories.
At this point, Loux’s widget is disruptive only in its potential. But if he can get it adopted by both enough data and listings providers, he argues that it could start to impact everything from search to banner ads.
Everyone wanders around on the Web in a dog pattern. You start at Google, look around, and go back. And every time you go back to Google they go, “Ka-ching!” This is the promise of Web 2.0 that has not been delivered yet—these fine connections. It is a big threat to PageRank and the inefficiency of Internet advertising, because everything you want is at you fingertips.
PageRank will no doubt survive the onslaught of Khris Loux and his widgeteers. But he does raise a compelling point about the power of widgets to distribute information to people where they need it. And the idea of spreading information from trusted sources across the Web to counter the (mis)messaging of marketers and vocal users who might happen to be wrong is also something that more Websites should think about doing.
See all
Post
Boy will this service come in handy. I’ve been burned a couple of times by half-assed contractors.
Yah khris — congrats!
@1 no need to be redundant, you could have just said “contractors” since half-assed is implied
Wow that a cool.I remember one time a plumber came over and made the problem bigger and i had to call someone else.
Seriously necessary. It amazes me the level at which many tradespeople operate. How can a business person operate so shoddily?
This is not to say that many business people outside of general trades are flawless so please dont infer that from my comment.
Lot’s of potential with a widget like this. Great to see something that took more brain power to create than a simple survey or weather widget.
Well done Khris and team - love your stuff
Wow - the UI of the popup needs a ton of work. Not scannable, terrible data density, no hint as to where the “BAD” information is in the case of a bad contractor, and more.
Get to work guys.
I think this is a good idea and looks well done (JSKit is the bomb after all) - but wow, what a small niche to serve. I mean in terms of the sites that would install such a widget…
We’re both excited and honored to be partnered with JS-Kit and Experian. They have both been a pleasure to work with. The integration of this widget truly provides an enhanced search experience for MojoPages users. Our goal is to be the best resource for consumers to find great local businesses. This widget gets us one step closer to achieving our mission, but there is still a long road ahead. We welcome the challenge.
-Jon Carder
CEO
MojoPages.com
I am looking for investors/ angel/ capitalist. I have similar product.
Looking for anyone who can help. email me: Johnson360@gmail.com
Bravo to the JS-Kit team.
This really is the first chapter in the future of reputation systems & recommendations on the web. You no longer need to separately visit a siloed reputation provider. With systems like this, you can find out all the relevant information right in situ. Imagine, for example, how commerce would be different on the web if ebay reputation scores were distributed in such widgetized form!
The next chapter after this is being able to choose your reputation provider and having your browser mash it up intelligently on the page you are viewing. There are lots of providers of reputation info out there and users are best served having a choice. What if I don’t want Experian’s reputation data, but instead want Yelp’s? Once tools like Mozilla’s “Weave” are more widespread, we will undoubtedly see such a new class of service.
It used to be that everything was done as a site, now everything is being done as a widget.
Kudos to experian for opening this data up. I wonder what Angie’s list’s recent investors think about this…
A great article about a fantastic development. Khris and his team have done an extraordinary job of evangelizing one of Web 2.0’s most significant themes: “Collaboration is the key to success!”
I have had the great pleasure of working with Khris on some of these projects and he is a true visionary in this regard. The web will and should be comprised of very trustworthy, relevant and compact data for people to use. This widget expresses what Web 3.0 will be about - 3 deep tools for accomplishing what we need.
Great job Khris and I know TC and everyone will be fascinated with further developments in the weeks to come.
Always,
Phil Butler
Unfortunately, this has the potential to be a nightmare. How many people out there have a blemish on your credit report for reasons not related to employment and are concerned about getting a job. How many small businesses may be perfectly great, but have some sort of negative report that may have no relationship to their ability. The idea that a reputation can be derived from a large massive data-dump is just an invitation to litigation. It’s just a matter of time before some small business sees they are wrongfully labeled as not trustworthy before lawsuits start to fly for defamation and other torts, including partner pages that did nothing more then display data. Anyone in the data acquisition industry knows that these data dumps have significant limitations, and inferences need to be drawn carefully. The large credit bureaus are just looking for additional ways to monetize data collected for credit purposes. That data may have nothing to do with reputation. This seems like allot of snake oil to me. This is just another reason that Congress and the states needs to step in and further regulate the credit industry
We run a local website where people can find and rate local businesses. We’ll definitely take a look at this product. Re Steve Smith comments are a concern, we’ll have to take a hard look at that, but our site was designed to allow businesses to comment and for customers to review data, so hopefully the combination of data will provide a truthful profile of the business for consumers.
http://www.RatingSmart.com
Hi Steve,
You say “… many small businesses may be perfectly great, but have some sort of negative report that may have no relationship to their ability …” This may certainly be true in specific instances, but by what logic does this render credit data worthless? The majority of responsible companies will surely argue that the ability to get insurance, pay ones debt, secure licenses, etc. are important elements of “greatness”. In addition, Advisor provides a powerful compliment to top-line credit information by allowing real customers to offer their own reviews, comments, and ratings of particular vendors. Taken together the consumer has a well rounded base of information upon which to make a decision.
With respect to legal matters, Experian holds harmless any site that presents this data via Advisor so long as the data is not altered. Business owners are also provided a mechanism, within the widget, to update & correct errors.
The truth is a lubricant to the economy. Widely shared, credible information increases the speed of transactions and removes the tendency for consumers to discount bids in an effort to cover risk. Conversely, decreased transparency results in transactions delays and increased costs as consumers invest in research or ‘due diligence’. All honest brokers have an interest in promoting an environment of maximum transparency. The collective good is best served by freely shared information. Advisor advances this goal.
Caveat Emptor or “buyer BEWARE” has stood as law for long enough. It’s time that business competed using the truth. Let the buyer be AWARE.
Khris Loux, CEO
JS-Kit
As I’m UK based I don’t know if this would affect UK contractors. One possible outcome of the credit crunch is that only the best contractors with good reputations will get the jobs. Of course it could go the other way with customers being on such a tight budget that they take the cheapest quote. Just don’t forget that sometimes you get what you pay for!
This looks like an a exceeding good idea !, as some people have pointed out, the obvious disadvantage is that this might tend to disadvantage the smaller and cheper plumbing businesses simply because the credit agencies either don’t hold their data or that the data in incomplete.
Would this be available in the UK any time soon ? Until that time you might want to read up on some tips on how to select a cheap and a CORGI registered plumber here …
http://www.plumberdirectory.org
That can be very effective, otherwise a personal background search must be complete for it to be effective. If every record in every location ever visited or lived by the subject is not checked then you may not be aware of all the risks involved in associating with the subject person. This can lead to disastrous results, so take the time to check all relevant places. An easier way to do a personal background search is to use an information aggregator, because they maintain a comprehensive database of public records from every State, and only one search is needed. The results are received quickly, usually within hours. This means less time until you have your questions answered and become aware of risks you face http://backgroundsearch.com