I disagree with some of the below statements for the following reasons:  Any abstractor or abstracting company that believes they are being used exclusively in their counties, without a contract to the contrary, oral or written, is naive.  Companies have to use more than one - that is how they make sure orders are processed promptly and efficiently.  You may be the #1 vendor receiving the first 10-20 orders that day, but after that it goes to a second.  They have to do that to cover a bulk order from their clients and to cover vacations etc.  There is nothing wrong with that.  When I reported back to my client who I was receiving work from at the time - orders had not stopped then nor have they today - my "tattling" as some have called it was not a marketing technique - it was to inform my clients who had no idea that vendors were marketing that had actually no knowledge of the industry to them - had I seen anyone with an order from them that were researchers I knew to be competent no call would ever be made.  To be true to your client - you have to be true to their welfare too.  To keep something from them that could affect the credibility to their client is harmful to them.  I was thanked for calling them.  Also, some companies do not know that some vendors were utilizing online services and not going to the courthouse until they were notified by someone.  They cannot keep up with every county in every state all the time.  And in the case of criminal searches - do you all know that some of the most serious criminal offenses are not even posted on the site because of the sensitive nature of the crime - sometimes to protect the person that was offended - many times sex crimes and sites even have this posting that not all cases are online because of this.  I would have told the company that I could not compete with the other person because I do courthouse searches not online searches because I could not guarantee to you the online records and neither can the courthouse themselves.