FreeBeenVerified and a Free Open Source White Pages.
FreeBeenVerified offers people the tools needed to find lost loved ones. In ’80s, before the internet, public records were hard to find. People didn’t have the chooses they do today, there were only a few options. One of these options was dex white pages, which was delivered to every home for a small fee. Dex White Pages offered pieces of information on local residents and businesses. But unlike
the residential part of the white page, the business part known as the yellow page had paid services. Because of the ads from businesses Dex white pages were able to deliver the public directly book for free to its customers.
But the residential sections known as the white pages were different. It worked opposite to the business by opting out requires payment. Therefore if you didn’t want your know in the white pages you would have to contact Dex White pages and have it removed. And for a small fee, Dex White pages would comply with the request and remove your name. Dex white pages only offer basic information name, address, and phone number. It was listed alphabetically by last name. Which made it hard to find people who had the same first and last name. Another problem was that the books were local. You can only get the information about your local area. If you wanted to find people in a different area you had to get a different public directory book. Which made it almost impossible to conduct any kind of international people search.
FreeBeenVerified joins the public directory business.
When the digital revolution swept through the country, many big businesses were unable or refused to adapt. And one of these big companies was Dex White Pages. They saw the internet as a fad, they didn’t think the internet would catch on. So they didn’t invest in any internet infrastructure. As the worldwide web developed (WWW), people were turning to the internet to search for websites. Then people started searching for products, businesses, and people.
Dex White Pages customers started canceling their white page books. Because most of their searches were for local businesses. And since many businesses started to open websites they didn’t need Dex White Pages anymore to find the information. Then public directory startup companies started appearing on the internet. One of these companies was FreeBeenVerified. And they along with a handful of other companies provided free access to the basic public information about people.
FreeBeenVerified versus the big companies.
Two big advantages FreeBeenVerified had over the brick and mortar public directory company was that it had a nationwide public directory and it was easier to use. While companies like Dex White Pages were only offering a local directory, Free BeenVerified was providing their customers with access to a national public database. The second advantage was that it was easy to use. People didn’t have to search alphabetically they could just type the search query in the box and the result magically appeared. Even though Dex was giving your books out for free, people were still calling in to cancel the books, because it was obsolete.
The changing tide with FreeBeenVerified.
public directory companies hit by the internet tsunami were forced to adapt or be washed away by history. So Dex started the build their online services. First, they allow access to the business records. Therefore making their business records free online. But since people didn’t could go directly to the business websites it wasn’t attracting any customers. And without customers, Dex White Pages couldn’t sell ads or charge business listing fees. So they had to come up with a different business model. As a result, they open their white pages and made them free to all of their users. Rather than trying to get paid customers, they were willing to give access to their database in exchange for attracting new customers.
Dex White Pages general public records, mainly name, phone number, and addresses. They did have more detailed records like criminal records, license plate records, or free background checks. On the other hand, FreeBeenVerified already had a paid public database and a loyal group of customers. They were charging people to find more detailed information, like criminal records, court records, divorce records, etc. But they were missing a free general public database. So they need something that they can offer for free the challenge Dex White Pages new business model.
FreeBeenVerified opensource White Page project.
group of small public directories joined forces to open a new opensource project in order to naturalize Dex’s new business model. The new white page would contain basic information name, phone number, and address of almost everyone in the Unites of America. By joining forces they were able to create a free opensource White Page directory. Because these databases were open-source, they could be used by any public directory company.
One of the consequences of the opensource White pages is that it created a boom in the public directory startup market. Any startup company now can get access to the general opensource database. But in order to get the more detailed database they had to go to the older companies. Due to the demand for them for more detailed data, companies like FreeBeenVerified started to create Affiliate programs and white labels. In which they sell their database to the small companies. People now have more chooses of public record providers because of the competition between the old service provider and the development of the opensource white pages.