Residential plumbing firms that advertised on Google searches tended to be lower-quality companies, according to a study in Illinois by Ryan C. McDevitt of Duke University. Specifically, the firms that advertised on Google received, on average, more than 3 times as many Better Business Bureau complaints per employee as companies that didn’t advertise. Because of an inability to establish lucrative relationships with long-term clients, low-quality firms have a greater incentive to rely on Internet search engines and other forms of advertising to aim at infrequent customers who aren’t willing to devote time to seeking out good companies, McDevitt suggests.

Source: "A" Business by Any Other Name: Firm Name Choice as a Signal of Firm Quality