How much longer will yellow pages exist?
From the driveway to the trash bin.
Sunday morning I took my dog out for her morning walk as usual. I suddenly heard squealing tires down the road and looked up to see a white van speeding down the road, swerving from side to side. As the van swerved, I heard loud “thump” noises.
A drunk driver? A drive by? Nah, just the yellow pages delivery van.
As I walked up the street, I saw orange bags on each driveway, each containing a couple phone books. Some driveways had one bag; others had 2 or 3. For the rest of the walk I thought about how inefficient phone books are. Thousands of sales people go door-to-door convincing small businesses to make a one time advertising order. The books are printed up, delivered to each home, and then most of them never see the light of day. They go straight into the trash or are used as a booster seat for small children. Talk about a waste of trees.
And what’s inside the yellow pages? A thousand pages of ads with no valuable content. No user reviews. No ability to “find other businesses in this area”.
The internet didn’t kill the phone book overnight, but it certainly will over time.
One of my readers pointed out that the phone book is an excellent source of customers for him. He owns a computer repair shop. This makes sense because a) when your computer isn’t working you can’t use the online phone book and b) people who need help getting on the internet still use phone books. Other than that, it’s uses are limited.
When I’m looking for someone to fix my A/C, I use Angie’s List to read reviews first. When I need to find the store hours for Target, I go to Target.com. When I need to make restaurant reservations I look up the restaurant online. If I’m on the road, I call 800-GOOG-411 (it’s free).
Rest in peace, yellow pages.
Patrick McDermott says
“…when your computer isn’t working you can’t use the online phone book…”
Well as more and more people access the net thru their smart phones, PDAs ,etc, there will be no need for the yellow pages.
“”…and b) people who need help getting on the internet still use phone books.”
There will be less and less of those people as time goes on.
Chef Patrick - DNKitchen.com says
Same here, it is delivered and trashed.
I remember the days when I actually used a phone book, seems like ages ago. I don’t know what I would do without internet/google. At least if the internet is down I have my iphone for backup 🙂
Jamie Parks says
Yellowpages.com is very useful. Clean user interface. Site just works. The books are ridiculous… but apparently some people still use them.
Jim Peters says
Some people still use it. I have an auto repair business and get a least 2-3 jobs per week. We have a lot of senior citizens here and perhaps this is one of the reasons. I make my money back 10 fold on my ad
Reece says
I like YellowPages.com, I wish the books which just stop already. Waste of trees.
Sammy Ashouri says
“Some people still use it. I have an auto repair business and get a least 2-3 jobs per week. We have a lot of senior citizens here and perhaps this is one of the reasons. I make my money back 10 fold on my ad”
I agree… I know a couple friends that still advertise. Same reason when I asked “WHY?”
Some people just aren’t savvy enough to find stuff online. I’m sure over the years we will see a massive decline, until it officially dies out (2050? I dunno).
Trent Jackson says
I find it interesting that someone with a blog prognosticates the death of the print yellow pages. This coming from a person that most likely won’t leave the house without a Smartphone or laptop. Keep in mind that the primary user of the yellow pages tends to be older and not as Internet educated. The Baby Boomers and older Gen-X’rs are just reaching their prime years and will be using the yellow pages more and more as they have major life events.
In addition, a recent survey ranked yellow pages first as the most trusted media. Once again, the Baby Boomers and Gen X’rs have the money and they will go to the source they find the most reputable.
With these reasons and many others, Ad Words won’t be able to provide the quantity of leads that most businesses need to survive for many more years. It’s a nice addition but keep looking for the next edition of your local yellow pages.
BTW…no trees are typically cut down specifically for yellow page production and the typical yellow page directory contains 25% post consumer content.
Phil says
This statement is not true..
“Thousands of sales people go door-to-door convincing small businesses to make a one time advertising order.”
The salespeople all upsell internet related services along with the print ads. Why would you waste the sales cycle and not offer it all?
Yellow page providers are among some of the largest domain registrar and hosting resellers.
RegFeeNames.com says
There website is very good here in the UK – Yell.com – I dont use the book myself and use the online version but I do think they still have a place.
Many companies still advertise in them because they are used to it and also they normally get a free listing on the website also.
As time goes on we shall see the book directory close and it shall all be online buy at present there is still a need for this imo.
Regards,
Robbie
Andrew says
@ Trent – that’s the point. It used to be 100% of people tapped the YP for this information. Now what % is it? What % when today’s senior citizens are no longer here?
As for the study calling the YP the most trusted media, that must be done by a YP-backed survey group. I don’t think calling a book of ads “trusted media” is possible.
Joe says
More psycho babble from internet junkies. Angies list is a joke. The web is a great place to play poker, email friends and view porn. You people need to get a life. Did you ever think about the environmental chaos you create with old hardware and phones, batteries, etc? Phone books are FREE, no isp fees, no hardware, no electricity and no virus software needed.
Andrew says
@ Joe – how is your yellow pages offering better than Angie’s list? Do you have user reviews?
Trent Jackson says
Nationally, 8 out of 10 people use the yellow pages 1.15 times per week. This number will stay relativley constant for at least ten more years. Boomers (not senior citizens) are just turning anywhere between 50 and 60 and they still have another ~15+ years to live. Usage will decrease, but not drastically. This generation has more money to spend than any other in history. A smart business will keep thier money where the spenders are searching.
From an cost aspect, as more and more people use the Internet, the price of a sponsored link will rise as well. In many cases, it’s a better ROI to keep advertising in the yellow pages. Lawyers in Chicago can go for as much as $75 per click when most of the people clicking are researching. Compare that to a yellow page ad for $500/mo. that produces 50 phone calls. People who are calling don’t pick up the phone to do research anymore. Tell me what the better ROI is?
Trust, from a common sense point of view, is easy. Most people still would rather do business in person or over the phone. The Internet can be a scary place for those unfamiliar.
Joe says
@ Andrew – Angies list is a bad business model. I’m not sure they are going to survive much longer. Why would I pay for opinions? As you know, most opinions stink.
Shane says
Ha! You sure got the Yellow people riled up 🙂
Our books — white pages or yellow pages — always go right out of the bag and into recycle.
Andrew says
@ Trent – again, YP company statistics, but let’s just assume they are correct. I will say that the typical person that uses the YP is more likely to convert b/c they’re less sophisticated. Search ad buyers see that on MSN compared to Google. MSN users are less sophisticated and don’t know how to do comparison shopping and such on the web, so clicks covert much better.
@ Joe – That’s what I thought at first, too. But I keep paying my annual fees because the reviews are actually quite helpful. I could pick up the yellow pages and see an ad for “Joe’s Tree Trimmers, best in the industry!” and then go to Angie’s list and see three complaints about cost over runs, tree limbs left on the lawn, etc. I’d say if most opinions stink, then no opinions stink more. Amazon has thrived on product reviews, and there’s a company here in Austin (Bazzar Voice) that is helping companies with these reviews because they know sell products. Some of the savviest contractors are using Angie’s List and seeing huge benefits.
Also, as an Angie’s List customer I know I’m going to get great service. I just tell the contractor I found them on Angie’s List and they make sure to give me good service. They don’t want any bad reviews.
Andrew says
@ Shane – I got a similar response when I wrote about phone book covers.
The phone book lovers never cite the data that shows revenue going down, down, down.
Trent Jackson says
These are advertising industry stats, not specifically YP stats. Even throwing those aside, people over 40 are more likely to use the yellow pages. They also have more money. They make major purchases based off of life changing events such as:
Daughter gets married
Make last home mortgage payment
Collect from pension / savings / stock plan
Purchase Retirement home in past year
Child enters college
Youngest child graduates college
Youngest child leaves home
Retire or take early retirement
Sell or change home
Make major home improvement
Grandchild is born
These events translate to money spent. Meanwhile, the twenty year old college student living in an apartment looking for running shoes purchases them off of the Internet.
Think about this from outside the world that you live in. The majority of people using the Internet to shop are young and are not making large purchases.
Trent Jackson says
Saying that yp calls convert better because people are less sophisticated is entirely not true. People who use the book know what they are looking for. It’s not exactly bathroom reading material. They look at five ads, call three, then make a purchase.
jp says
So I’m the reader that owns the comptuer repair shop that always stands up for the yellow pages, but those days are over and I’d love to here what other domainers think about the BS that the yellow pages did to me.
Long story short, I (being such a fan of the YP) bought the biggest display ad under computer repair in San Diego – North County Edition. All this (for $900 a month) so I could be the 1st ad in the heading.
Well here is what happened: It turned out there are these things called “Leader Ads”, and apparently there can be up to 3 of them under every heading in AT&T’s book. These leader ads are pretty much regular plain old boring text ads that are 4 inches tall, 1 column wide and can come (if they are present) at the very beginning of a heading to aid in laying out the book. Well, If you flip to computer repair in my book, you’d end up on page 247 (with the book open this is on the right hand page). You will see 3 leader ads, then 19 regular just a name and number ads, and 4 multi-line graphic ads, and 3 ads asking you to advertise in the yellow pages (to aid further in their layout).
If you hadn’t noticed yet, I didn’t mention my ad. That’s because you have to flip the page over to the back, to page 248 to see my ad. Thats right folks, 3 leader ads and 23 other ads all showing before my ad and guess who’s ad cost the most (thats right mine did, and by alot).
Upon complaining to AT&T they said “What nobody mentioned leader ads to you?” Nope. But how is that relavent anyway when 23 other $30 ads show before my $900 ad, which you have to flip the page to see. Compare this to the 2nd page of Google search results.
Well, I’m done with the YP, so Andrew you can bash them all you want. Sorry to leave such a long rant in a comment but it made good procrastinating other work, and made me feel better. If anyone else has experienced this problem or is interested in mounting a case (if you are a lawyer) I’m working to put together a class action suit against AT&T if they don’t discount my bill (they are still thinking about it). Needless to say, I’m not the only victim of their unfortunate layout problems.
jp says
btw, by $900 ad I mean $900 a month, or $10k a year.
EcoYP says
Great post Andrew. I’m a longtime reader but first-time commenter. We received a stack of phone books recently and I reacted the same way. It actually prompted me to put together a little website with tips for helping consumers stop delivery of printed phone books. Of course there are those who still find value in phone books, but for those of us who don’t there ought to be a way to opt out of delivery. Unfortunately there is no foolproof method — such as the National Do Not Call Registry for telemarketing calls — but there are things you can do. Check it out at http://www.ecoyp.com and let me know what you think!
Joe says
@ Shane – don’t worry about how the web is better than yellow pages, it dosen’t matter. They’re both part of the marketing mix connecting buyers with sellers. Most yellow page companies sell web products such as ppc, seo, sem, video, etc. They sell for Google and others. Their sales force is big and they have built relationships with local businesses. Mobile is another area they will be selling products and services. They are here to stay. It’s called mutli-platform selling; print , web, mobile. Opt out is a good idea for internet junkies, less books printed and distributed equals more profit for yp firms.
“Klaatu Barada Nicto”
Andrew says
@ EcoYP – go for you. I have a couple domains related to opting out of phone books. If there was some easy way for people to opt-out then YP companies would have to give “truer” distribution numbers to advertisers.
Computer Repair says
Yellowpages still can yield a good ROI for certain services but for the majority of people seeking a business they are searching online.
As mentioned earlier, for a pc repair business a lot of older, less tech savvy customers will still find you via the yellowpages especially if they only own one computer (and it isn’t working).
Although with the cost of computers dropping so much lately a lot of people find it’s cheaper to just buy new instead of repairing it.
Overall YP will continue to get thinner and lose local business revenue over the next 20yrs but there is still 100m+ people over the age of 40 in the US which are less likely to go online to search for services.
Trent also pointed out a very good point about the rising PPC costs for some industries. Paying $20, $30, $50+ a click for certain local terms is not uncommon now where a large, color ad in the Yellowpages still is only $500 a month.
Pete Kosednar says
Andrew: I have to disagree with this post on Angie’s List. This service is one big s**m. Your company can instantly get added to the site by joining and paying the fee and then your service is a member of “angie’s list”. So in my service category I see a whole list of companies and I will bet each and every one paid to get listed. This is how this company makes its money.
I will just do things the same way I have alway done: do a good job and customer will use my service again.
Andrew says
@ Pete – yes, you can pay to get listed but you can’t pay to get reviews. It’s the reviews that matter.
jp says
@Computer Repair
At least for our clientele, the dropping prices of computers doesn’t really have a negative effect. Computers are essentially disposable these days and the customers know it. The value is in the Data and the time people spend to get their computer setup the way they want with all the programs they want. They pay so that we can get them back into business just as they were before their computer broke, with all their data in tact. It takes us an hour or so to get rid of a bad virus, or recover from a crahsed/not booting system, whereas if they tried to fix it themselves, or simply get a new computer, all that data and configuration won’t magically put itself on the new computer. It will take the non-savy customer 20x as long as it takes us, and probably not with as good results.
Rob Sequin says
Wow. 28 comments and I’m just seeing this article for the first time!
Yellow pages should be fined for littering!
They will be around so long as small businesses continue to buy ads from the yellowpages salespeople.
Until you have armies of David Castello’s out there knocking on doors of local businesses, the small and medium sized businesses will just sign up for another year in the yellowpages.
However, now that they are looking for new and more customers, I think SMBs are looking to the Internet rather than taking out a bigger ad in the yellow pages or newspapers.
Nancy says
@ andrew – And whos to say that the reviews are legitimate. I know plenty of business owners who would be happy to tell you they wrote their own reviews.
Also to end this YP sponsored research study bs, heres the link to the actual survey, see for your self…
http://blog.kelseygroup.com/index.php/2008/10/09/tmp-study-shows-small-shift-toward-ses-over-pyps/
http://blog.kelseygroup.com/index.php/2008/09/02/yellow-pages-where-boomer-money-is-spent/
http://www.viacom.com/news/Pages/newstext.aspx?RID=1172336
http://www.viacom.com/news/Pages/newstext.aspx?RID=1172336
Joe says
@jp – Leader ads are a bad concept and I would continue to make sure they make amends.
Internet ads (PPC) are as effective as direct mail with less than 1% return. Pretty lousy ad investment.
@EcoYP – dude you need a life! What do you do to make a buck? Yellow pages are paper for god’s sake. Showing pictures of yp’s in piles will not destroy the earth. Why don’t you show pictures of discarded monitors, keyboards and computers? They are a serious problem for the environment.
@Rob – who is David Castello?
Peter Askew says
here’s the sequence of events that occurred at my house last week when the YP books were delivered:
thump-thump (outside my front door)
open door
pick up YP
walk out back
drop in recycling bin
Joe says
@ Peter – sorry you can’t read.
Andrew says
@ Joe – surely you have a better comeback than that.
Joe says
@ Andrew – Yea, your right; bad comeback. Peter should have just given the books back.
I get really tired of listening to uninformed minority groups discuss the end of an industry when they don’t know the facts. Sammy (no 6)says it all…10 fold back on his investment.
We all can’t paint with a broad brush and claim nobody uses print and everyone is on the web. They both have the pros and cons.
Donnelley, Idea Arc and Yellow Book are in financial trouble because they made unwise purchases of directory companies. They wanted to conquer the world. Very bad timeing on their part.
Moreover, all media sales are down, including internet. So, until I stop hearing all the bs about yp evironmental concerns, death of yp’s, etc…I’m going to continue the dialog.
Good day domainers!
Stacey says
Wow, what a great convo you all have going here! I would also like to chime in regarding a free directory assistance service. Call 1-800-FREE411. I prefer to use these guys over GOOG411 because not only do they have business listings, but they also have residential and government listings as well. So go green- recycle those phone books and try 1-800-FREE411!
Andrew says
@ Joe – domainers know what it’s like to be misunderstood, too.
kenc says
I find it interesting that some of you refuse to believe valid research that comes from “the YP industry”, but will then believe everything you read on a blog or website which was created by someone you don’t know, with no credentials, but alas, has an opinion..
Andrew says
I wrote this post at the beginning of the month. I just walked down the street and saw that a few people haven’t even picked up their yellow pages yet. Is that better than throwing them into the trash?
🙂
John D says
As the guy who last year spent over $250,000 a year in yellow page ads I can tell you that yellow page advertising is no longer king. This year we will reduce our ads to bold listings and save at least two thirds of that money. It will go into other types of ads.
Do fancy or large ads help people make decisions? For pizza, restaurants, local car repair and other small local businesses the answer is probably. When it comes to other types of business researched in the YP users already have a brand name product or service in mind and the decision is already made, they may use the YP to locate that brand name so an expensive ad is a waste of money.
Spend 80% of the ad money money on top of mind awareness (radio, cable tv, billboards, direct mail, shows) spend 5% on YP ads, spend 15% on internet marketing.
Rob Sequin says
JohnD,
Thanks for the insight.
What other types of ads will the yellow page ad cost reductions go towards?
“Spend 80% of the ad money money on top of mind awareness (radio, cable tv, billboards, direct mail, shows) spend 5% on YP ads, spend 15% on internet marketing.”
I suppose it depends on the type of business but radio, cable and billboards are just branding with no measurement of response.
Why not spend 30% on Internet marketing that is only spent on people to whom you want to show ads and is 100% measurable?
John D says
Most YP consultants up sell you to a bigger ad for a special “sale” price. Each year you advertise it gets a little bigger for just a little more because of a discount (a so called 30-60% discount). Want to go smaller? OK, but no reduction in ad cost! In other words, the $1500 ad has worked its way up to $2500 over the years. You can go back to the $1500 ad but it will still cost $2500!
Branding is the name of the game. If buyers think ACE WIDGETS when a need arises ACE WIDGETS has an excellent chance of getting the business. Trying to directly correlate an ad with results is interesting but not the best way to grow a business.
We track all of our internet searches. 70% of the searches are for our name. The products and we offer account for the other 30%. That 70% already knows us by name, how? By all of the hard to trace but obviously effective advertising we do and by making sure we can be found. So we don’t plan to abandon the YP we just won’t use it as an advertising medium but as a directory.
Rob Sequin says
Interesting.
Would you want to own AceWidgets.com for example?
Do you think you would get more business if you owned your product.com or your industry .com?
John D says
If your industry is the name of the product or service (trucks.com, paintball.com, lawyer.com, discjockey.com) you would have a great advantage in searches but not necessarily top of mind brand awareness. What you do with that site once found is another matter. If nothing else do make sure the phone number is front and center as well as a simple contact form.
Sterling says
I believe the yellow pages will be out of style, computers are taking over. We need to save paper!!!