I fully agree. The internet is like a vacuum for marketing dollars with little or no return. Especially if you are a contracting firm. Even in today's technology market space, for contractors, the best bang for your buck is Face2Face meetings, Networking, and word-of-mouth. Have clients post your praises on sites that you have some level of control. Sites like Facebook, Google+, and other 'free' sites are fine. Besides, online leads are usually aiming you towards someone who has no knowledge of your business and is usually looking to 3-5 others that will bid against your services. I value my deliverables. I refuse to lower my company into bidding wars where I cannot bring value.

I get endless calls from Angie's List, Houzz, etc., that tell me how they are going to energize my sales and have received squat to date. And everything I read to date is now reflecting the fact that they care less about your business and will give you exposure only if you feed them serious precious capital.

Marketing dollars are precious and marketing is a necessity. However, to date I have not seen any disruptive technology that creates ROI on any claimed site for contractors. With exception to limited, but current social media exposure, and a solid website with updated content.