A new service called Insider Pages takes the concept of a  referral network, i.e. asking your friends for the number of the contractor they used for their addition last year, and then lets you add your own recommendations. 

Basically it’s just a referral network that you can build for yourself, invite your friends to contribute, and then add your own ratings, comments, etc.  In other words it is highly dependant on its users building it up to what some call "critical mass."  I tried searching for a plumber in my area (North Carolina) and it came up with two sponsored listings in CA, along with this note: "We are working on getting reviews
for Plumbing Contractors.
Please add a recommendation to help get us started."

Feels like 1999 all of the sudden.  I’m pulling every dime I can out of NASDAQ…well I would if I had any dimes in it.