The public was getting scammed. They were being lied to by the very people they were hiring to help them!
There were (and still are) other sites filled with 'Hire me- I am an ex-blah-blah-blah' or 'Hire me- I have been in business for XX years' ads by advertisers who are NOT who they claim to be; some other sites allow false information to be listed about an advertiser's training and abilities.
thePIregistry is NOT one of those 'We allow anyone with a credit card to advertise, no questions asked' sites.
thePIregistry is NOT one of those 'Search through pages of our cluttered site before you can possibly find an investigator' sites; on thePIregistry, you click for your info right on the clean & simple homepage.
thePIregistry is NOT one of those 'Advertise whatever you want, they don't verify' sites.
thePIregistry is NOT one of those PI sites littered with click-ads for 'toys', 'music', 'foreclosures', 'meet singles', 'pre-paid cards', and many other items with no connection to PI work but placed on the site to make the site-owner some pay-per-click income (at the expense of losing professional appearance).
Many investigative profesionals listed on other sites can not qualify to be listed here. So, since it is VERY affordable ($35 from now to the end of this calendar year) for a legit investigator to be listed here, RUN if they are listed elsewhere but not here!
Those other sites do not protect the public; we do: investigators must verify to us everything stated in their listings.