Gouden Gids personalizes website

The Dutch version of the Yellow Pages, Gouden Gids (part of World Directories), added a new service to its website: consumers can now make a personal account in which they can mark companies. In the future they will also be able to write reviews about service providers like plumbers, masseurs or hair dressers. As a spokesman said: “We are still looking for the best way to do this. After all, you don’t want competitors to write bad about each other.” (em, Dutch). Brands make their services more and more personal. Now for the anonymous consumer. In the future the consumer will be known by name, and be officially registered (through DigID for example). A brand like Gouden Gids then knows exactly who it is dealing with. Then, through a connection with social networks, it will be able to not just show reviews, but reviews from the consumer’s first, second or third grade network: ‘A friend of your neighbor has experience with this painter and strongly advises against him.’ This way brands like Gouden Gids become valuable, and painters have to make sure their service is perfect. This is a small step in that direction.

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