When Jason Gaylord graduated from Monroe High School in 1993, he was definitely not thought of as the man who would eventually transform the Internet. But through his company, Localloop, that is exactly what he hopes to do.
In order to spread word of his mission, Gaylord has spent the last 30 days perched atop a roof in downtown Bothell. He lives in one tent, works in another and has a small portable restroom facility. Friends bring him meals, which are hoisted up to the roof in a bucket. A large inflatable sign on the roof warns against consumer trafficking on one side, which is what Gaylord sees as the problem. The other side promotes his business, "Localloop,GÇ¥ which is what he sees as the solution.
"I tell everybody I'm building the first Web 3.0 company,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "The first online brick-and-mortar company that was built from the ground up with both business-owners and consumers in mind.GÇ¥
Localloop is a search engine, jobs platform and social network, with a built-in mechanism for verified business reviews. It has no advertising, nor does the site collect user information, analyze keystrokes or track online behavior. Gaylord created Localloop after assimilating data amassed during years of research and development, as a way to take a stand against consumer trafficking.
The problem, said Gaylord, is that social boundaries don't exist on the Internet, and companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon are taking advantage of that. Online behavior is tracked by analyzing the websites a person visits, what they buy, who they talk to and where they shop.
"They start creating what I call a digital avatar for each of us,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "Based on these digital avatars, they're actually going to be able to manipulate people to purchase things before people even know about it.GÇ¥
Web searches are manipulated based on previous online activity. So someone who frequents liberal news sites might find that liberal news is more prevalent in their searches. A person who performs a Google search on "how to lose weightGÇ¥ might suddenly notice an influx of weight-loss articles and advertisements.
"Google is a private company, owned by private individuals, and I go to their search engine and say, "I'm sick, what will cure me?' "I'm lonely, how can I meet somebody?' "I'm dangerous, how can I wreak havoc?'GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "We tell Google everything and they have amassed more human intelligence than any other time in history.GÇ¥
Gaylord refers to it as cognitive dissonance.
"People want their privacy, they value their privacy, but they also value being social and being connected with family and friends,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "So they turn a blind eye to what's being done.GÇ¥
"All of these companies, like Facebook and Google, are laughing their way to the bank at our expense,GÇ¥ he continued.
Gaylord wants to reverse the trajectory. He is hoping that by honoring privacy, upholding online social boundaries and not monetizing his users, he can create a viable product that people will value. He wants to highlight local companies; the boots-on-the-ground organizations that are out making a difference in local communities.
"You hear a lot in the media about Walmart being a job crusher and a local community killer. You don't even hear anything about Amazon, and Amazon is Walmart on steroids,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "I mean, at least Walmart has physical locations that are paying people a minimum wage. Amazon has gigantic warehouses run by robots.GÇ¥
While it sounds like science fiction, Amazon does in fact use robots in its significantly-sized warehouses. The cyber-giant implemented the robotics program in 2014, while looking for ways to improve conditions in its order fulfillment centers around the country.
"I think Amazon is a horrible company for jobs in the future of America,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "These kinds of companies, whether it be Amazon or Walmart, aren't nearly as impactful as the local business owner that actually sponsors the Monroe Bearcats. Walmart never sponsored the Monroe Bearcats, Amazon never sponsored the Monroe Bearcats, but there are a lot of local business owners who do.GÇ¥
Gaylord refers to it as the curse of 99 cents. In the ever-present drive for cheap, he is concerned about what will eventually happen to the local business owners who are unable to compete with online companies. His fear is that society will become so driven by cheap, that local "ma and paGÇ¥ stores will end up going out of business.
"It's giving all of the ammunition to the big businesses to destroy the little, and the little businesses employ 50 percent of America's workforce,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "If we put these people out of business, who then replaces those jobs? It won't be Amazon.GÇ¥
Gaylord is in the process of building a Localloop eCommerce platform to compete against companies like Amazon. He wants to provide an Internet marketplace where business owners are protected from a larger company like Amazon swooping in and undercutting their pricing models. Through consumer trafficking, said Gaylord, Amazon is able to identify sales trends, purchase products directly from the manufacturer, and compete against the small businesses using its platform to sell items.
"I believe that the innovation of the future is actually taking a step backwards,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "Just because we can doesn't mean we should, and what's good for me may not necessarily be good for everyone.GÇ¥
Gaylord uses an adverse possession analogy to express his fear. If a property owner unknowingly allowed their neighbor to build a fence which encroached 10 feet onto their property, and allowed the fence to remain there for a period of seven years, they would no longer own that 10 feet of property.
"Your neighbor can argue that that property is theirs, and they can assume ownership of it,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "I'm concerned that we've given up our privacy for so long, we've let that fence encroach so far onto our personal privacy, that we no longer have ownership of it.GÇ¥
Gaylord attended Central Washington University after graduating from Monroe High School in 1993, deciding to become a dot.com entrepreneur. In 1998, he started a popular online men's magazine called Lethal Sports, a first-generation internet company that relied on internet advertising for revenue. Initially, Gaylord experienced great success, with roughly 200,000 site visitors every day.
But in 2001, after the dot.com bubble burst, Gaylord's Lethal Sports magazine crashed and burned, with Gaylord losing everything in the process. Companies like Pets.com, Garden.com, Webvan.com and eToys.com all went out of business.
"The revenue rug was pulled out from all of us because advertising was valueless online,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "We all went out of business.GÇ¥
This, said Gaylord, is when consumer trafficking was born.
Gaylord decided to sit out the next phase of online companies, also known as Web 2.0. He spent 2002 through 2004 engaged in a massive research project, conducting over 4,000 interviews across the nation, to find out what people wanted from the Internet. What he learned was that people didn't want advertising, they wanted their privacy, and they wanted a way to weed out the good businesses from the bad.
Localloop was built entirely on that foundation.
Through his review verification process, Gaylord is building a massive network of businesses that are "in the loop.GÇ¥ In contrast to review platforms like Yelp, Angie's List and Google, Gaylord's review process is conducted by Localloop, during which the person's status as a customer is confirmed. This eliminates the opportunity for anyone with a grudge to get online and post a negative review. Companies hire Gaylord to conduct a minimum of 20 verified reviews, and if they achieve a high enough rating, they are allowed to be a part of the Localloop network.
Based in Edmonds, Gaylord is both the founder and the chief executive officer of Localloop. He is currently working extend his outreach, and has agents in Illinois, Texas, Arizona and soon, Florida. One of his board members is former legal counsel for Facebook.
"I've been legitimized,GÇ¥ Gaylord said. "It's kind of cool that a kid from Monroe, that graduated from Monroe High School, has a board member that was the general council and number one lawyer for Facebook.GÇ¥
Gaylord received permission to live on the roof in Bothell from building owner and chiropractor Dusty Dubois, a Localloop customer. To learn more about Localloop, please visit: http://www.localloop.com/. To learn more about Gaylord's rooftop vigil, please visit: http://stopconsumertrafficking.com/.
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