Google Gets Tough, and Suddenly a Notorious Garage Door Company Suffers, Saving Potential Customers Big Overcharges

Nobody likes a tattletale. I'll come clean now and explain The Great Tattle that my colleague told a few months back, and how ... wait for it ... her move actually improved the garage door industry across America.I wish I could take credit for this one, but this is all on my Watchdog partner Marina Trahan Martinez.Back in October, as part of our research into the notorious Garage Door Services, 2900 N. Interstate 35E in Carrollton, we received from one of their competitors a list of the company's top 500 websites it uses in 30 cities across the U.S.That's how GDS dominates. The company takes the names of established companies to confuse shoppers and then buys Google ads and leads for very high prices that allow them to flood the market. If you're looking for a specific company, you might end up with GDS using a similar name. Get it?It's almost impossible not to find them with an Internet search because they've spent millions of dollars over the years buying search terms you'd type to find a repair company.Who is GDS? Imagine a modern call center in an old Carrollton auto dealership that dispatches techs across the nation. Picture a band of manipulative, rogue technicians arriving in unmarked trucks, guys who turn $200 repair jobs into $2,500.Some former GDS workers, including top brass, come to regret their time there. I know because I've been hearing from them for a dozen years. That's how long I've been dogging this company. But I couldn't make a dent.No newspaper story or investigative TV report (there have been dozens across the U.S.) or even licensing challenges could slow these name-stealers down. Authorities rarely chased them (Georgia was the first, a long time ago), and California is the most aggressive. As for Texas? Not so much. That's maybe one reason their headquarters is here.I tried talk to representatives of the company this week. Neither GDS' top officials nor their lawyers returned The Watchdog's calls this week.The company got its start by dominating the old Yellow Pages the way it now dominates the Internet.Or did dominate the Internet.Which takes us back to Marina's great tattle.  Continue reading...