Today like most days I walked over to grab the mail and saw a familiar site. Yellow Page books in weather resistant packages parked by the mail boxes. They have been there already for longer than a week. I guess I wonder what will happen first, will they simply decompose or will someone simply get annoyed at seeing them and toss them in the garbage (most likely the later).
The Yellow Pages topic comes up almost every time I meet with a potential client. “I can’t track it”, “They over promised and under delivered”, or the most common “It is too expensive”. Is there room for the Yellow Pages in the Information age?
So I decided to check out Google Trends and run some numbers to see what type of search traffic the Yellow Pages is getting:
I knew the Yellow Pages market was shrinking but not this fast. How long do you expect the Yellow Pages to be around (post comments below)?
Best Regards,
P.S. I estimate that the Yellow Pages will discontinue distribution in 3 years in case you’re wondering 
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Brandon,
I work for Idearc Media, publisher of the Verizon Yellow Pages and home to Superpages.com.
The best way to opt out of receiving the yellow pages is to visit http://www.yellowpagesoptout.com. Our company is working on better ways to distribute the Verizon Yellow Pages that I’m sure you will appreciate, view our recent press release here http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS231594+08-Sep-2009+BW20090908.
I could not agree with you more that traditional yellow pages are dying. But at Idearc, our media consultants develop marketing campaigns that fit each client best and that could be to advertise on Superpages.com (more unique visitors than ESPN.com), our SuperpagesDirect Direct Mail products and, when it is appropriate, our yellow pages. We also have a variety of tracking tools.
Fact is, there is a need for the yellow pages. Unfortunately, for years the YP industry was focused on defending their product instead of differentiating it.
We recently introduced the SuperGuarantee (www.superguarantee.com) program available in all our products. When a consumer hires a painter, auto mechanic, contractor, plumber or other service provider that is part of our program, we will stand by the work. If there is a problem, we will step in and make it right. If we can’t, we will cut a check for up to $500 to the consumer. The program is free to both the consumer and eligible client.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Lisa Vilfordi
Well, I will avoid comment on the Super/ServiceGuarantee….. it has potential. As far as saturation distribution…. big issue. Yellow Page organizations need to address the problem and create an opt in program with incentives to the user of the product. What about a points based system? They could learn a thing or two from some MLM and membership clubs. LOL.
Cheers,
Mike Stewart
P.S. for the latest in yellow page news visit my blog!