When you search for a business on Google, the top results are often paid ads, and they may not lead you where you think.
The local director of operations for Stanley Steemer said sponsored ads are being used to mislead customers into calling the wrong company.
Carrie Young wanted to get a stain removed from her bedroom carpet earlier this year. She Googled Stanley Steemer and called the first number that appeared in her search results.
"I thought it was Stanley Steemer," Young said.
It wasn't. Instead, three men in a white truck showed up.
"I asked, and he told me he was a subcontractor," Young said.
Young's story is all too familiar to Judd Bradley, who said Stanley Steemer's policy does not allow subcontractors. He is the director of operations for Stanley Steemer from Miami to the Treasure Coast.
As I showed up for an interview, a woman who thought she called Stanley Steemer for carpet cleaning complained to Bradley that another business had shown up.
"They arrived in a white van," the woman said. "They came in and said they would give me an estimate at the beginning. They started spraying all this stuff all over the place, and I'm trying to tell them to stop and give me the estimate."
"I've spoken with probably 30 to 40 people. These are just the folks that have realized there was an issue," Bradley said. "To a person, they've Google searched Stanley Steemer in some way or form, Stanley Steemer phone number and they have clicked on a sponsored ad."
The woman who called Bradley and Young said the technicians did not get the stains out of their carpets.
"They really did a terrible job," Young said.
Young said a man who identified himself as "Frank" tried to charge her $1,900 for mold remediation she said she did not need. Frank declined an on-camera interview with me but told me by phone his business is legitimate and that complaints like Young's are hearsay.
Two years ago, WPTV began investigating impostors claiming to be Stanley Steemer subcontractors.
"It just seems recently to have gotten a little bit worse," Bradley said.
Bradley believes other service industries could be impacted by Google's sponsored results. Young wishes she were more internet savvy when she needed her rug cleaned.
"Just to be really careful when you're Googling something, make sure you don't hit a sponsored link," Young said.
Here are a couple of tips. If you Google a business, scroll down until you see that business. There is also a feature on Google that lets you hide sponsored results. Hide them. Also, if you do business with a franchise, whether it be floor and duct cleaning or pizza delivery, franchise businesses have vehicles that are rolling billboards. Make sure one of these rolling billboards rolls into your place before you finally do a deal.
Google has a way to dispute and potentially stop the kind of sponsored ads that can lead customers to a different business. If you’re concerned that another business will pop up if they Google your business, and you want to contest that practice, click here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.