Top 25 things vanishing from America: # 24 -- The Yellow Pages
Filed under: Home
This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory -- some to be missed, some gladly left behind. From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America.
The yellow pages used to be a huge business for the phone companies. If you owned a business, you had to be in it. The phone companies knew it, and did their best to squeeze every last penny out of business owners to get them to invest their money in the yellow pages.
The creators and marketers of the yellow pages boast that their publication is still relevant. The Yellow Pages Association suggests that 49% of American adults refer to the yellow pages every week. I'm not convinced that this is true.
And neither is The Kelsey Group, an advertising research firm in New Jersey. They say that in recent years, the use of printed newspapers and yellow pages has been falling at a rate of 2% to 3% per year. But in 2008, the drop in usage may be closer to 10%.
Businesses are sure to react to that drop in usage by holding back advertising dollars, which might even accelerate the decline of the yellow pages more. Fewer advertisers means the publication is less useful, which means there are fewer readers, which results in even fewer advertisers, ending up in a death spiral.
I don't even keep a phone book at my home or office. There's no need to, thanks to the internet. Yellow pages producers figured that out at some point, and started making yellow pages directories available on the web. They're really not needed though, as you can easily find a business with a simple search engine.
So where is the future of the yellow pages industry going? I'd say down, and down very quickly. There are still plenty of advertisers who obviously believe in the phone books, and I'm not discounting their experiences with them. I'm just saying that the yellow pages is likely to become more and more irrelevant each year.
With every passing year, more households have internet access, and web-savvy youngsters are growing into adults with the skills to get whatever information they need with a computer. Other than baby boomers and older, I know very few people who use any type of phone book anymore, white pages or yellow pages. Who needs two bulky books sitting on a shelf?
But every year, the phone book delivery people come through the neighborhood to deliver their wares. I've even caught them in the act and asked them to take the books back. After all, I'm just going to put them in the dumpster as soon as they leave. Their response? "Sorry ma'am. We're required to deliver them to every single house. No exceptions. Not even if you don't want one."
So with that, I do my part each year to needlessly kill a part of a tree as I walk from the front porch to the dumpster and deposit the phone books. The yellow pages people need to find a better way to adapt to technology, or they will find themselves out of business within a decade. That's my prediction, anyway.
Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
7-15-2008 @ 8:22AM
Victor Escobar said...
Why don't you recycle your phone-books? Just about every locale in the country has this option. That way, you wouldn't be [sic] 'needlessly killing trees'....
Reply
7-15-2008 @ 10:48AM
Eric Darling said...
This posting is naive, at best. There will ALWAYS be a need for yellow pages, just like newspapers. The death of both are being reported prematurely...I've worked for both industries, and believe me, not EVERYONE uses the internet! And even those that do, use it more for research before buying, and THEN they refer to local print sources to find information when they are READY to buy. I reccomend you do your homework before reporting the death of these valuable tools for businesses...
Reply
7-23-2008 @ 9:40PM
F2D said...
True --- and Google reports that only 3-5% of searches turn into a business transaction --- the phone book is over 50% -- people only open that thing to buy something.
12-04-2008 @ 9:42AM
Sharon Brown said...
Reply to article. Why should anyone seriously consider any marketing/advertising advice from a CPA? Blanket statements as to what works or doesn't in connecting buyers with sellers should be scrutinized. Especially in today's economy there in no one answer to our problems. Considering there still is a huge market share of print (do the research) as well as combination off-line & on-line users wouldn't it be foolish (and dangerous) to ignore this huge market potential?
1-01-2009 @ 8:31PM
Aug said...
I agree with Eric. I use the yellow pages almost daily in buisness and at home. We have to have them
1-02-2009 @ 12:04AM
Paul BOsco said...
I still like using the Yellow pages but I used to advertise in the Manhattan YP, a half-pager. The intenet cut into the effectiveness of the YP, but a bigger problem was the addition of two new YP companies to the Manhattan market. A YP needs to be a local monopoly. Also, the cost was rather high and the accounting procedures ridiculous. I had to pay my bills thru a collection agency because they were the only ones who talked sense.
I am intrigued by the possibilty of paying for internet advertising on a per-click basis. The most effective advertising I have ever experienced is eBay, assuming you can list stuff for auction in a manner that works as advertising.
Paul J. Bosco
Mid-town Manhattan store owner
7-15-2008 @ 11:26AM
BOB LONG said...
As a long time advertiser in the yellow pages, Ive noticed a definate drop off in the number of response that we currently recieve back from the ads we place in multiple books.
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 12:57AM
Rita House said...
Why are we always killing off valuable items and services?
My husband and I always uses the Yellow Pages, circuling or yellow marking addresses; using it also for our own marketing purposes. Not everyone likes using the Internet - which is being shoved down our throats. What happens when the Internet goes down nationwide or worldwide? It is manmade and very susceptible to all kinds of unexpected calamities including terrioristic tamperings. This country will be LOST if their whole dependence is upon the internet and vague paper trails. Don't kill off without asking the people!!
Reply
7-15-2008 @ 1:42PM
Rosie Real said...
Wish they had an Opt Out feature - I too toss mine right into the recycle bin. I have been checking the web for the past several years to see if there is an opt out feature but have not found one. Like one poster says the will deliver whether you want them or not. Even though I recycle, it still wastes money to produce and print mine!
Reply
7-15-2008 @ 1:55PM
Stephanie Hobbs said...
What a conflation of numbers. For the facts, I suggest that your readers visit our site www.ypassociation.org and decide for themselves. Our organization works with reputable third- party research groups to determine usage. In 2007, US consumers referenced the print directory 13.4 billion times, which means when combined with online Yellow Pages usage we GREW last year. But not one seems to want to report that fact. We have one of the BEST ROIs for small businesses, and we bring new customers, the lifeblood of any business, especially in hard economic times.
As to the books themselves, NO TREES are used, and you can check that on our site, as well. Lumber residuals are used in combination with recycled pulp to create the books and we represent less than .3% of the waste stream according to the EPA. Just the facts, including full disclosure, I'm the VP of Communications for the Yellow Pages Association.
Reply
7-15-2008 @ 9:48PM
Tracy Coenen said...
So it sounds like print views then went down for the year? Because you said it went up "when combined with internet."
7-15-2008 @ 2:53PM
Kenc said...
I'm not sure what qualifies a CPA, MBA, CFE that performs fraud examinations and financial investigations to become an expert in which advertising media is or isn't working.
First you doubt the findings from a reputable research group on weekly usage. Then you twist the results from the Kelsey Group. And then you ignore demographics which clearly show that not everyone is flocking to the Internet for everything in their life.
I'd challenge you anytime to do a search online vs. using the print book and you will find more, quicker through the print book than you can in 15 minutes of Internet hunting and peeking.
What a waste of computer storage space to post junk like this.
Reply
7-15-2008 @ 9:50PM
Tracy Coenen said...
Ken - It seems that management at AOL ought to have cleared it with you before they allowed a fraud examiner to express her opinion on this issue. Please contact them immediately so that in the future they request your permission before allowing me to voice my opinions on the statistics and the situation.
12-23-2008 @ 2:43PM
Msmith said...
Unless you have no idea how to use a computer doing one search on Google or Yahoo for a given business, such as home remodeling, will undoubtedly result in millions of pages of relevant online material including organic (free information) and paid advertisiments from local businesses for you to contact. There is really no comparison between the amount of info available online compared to a Yellow pages book.
12-24-2008 @ 3:35PM
Jeremy said...
@Kenc - You must not be very good at searching.
7-15-2008 @ 2:49PM
Carry said...
If recycling is your real issue then do something about the needless direct mail that floods my mailbox to the tune of 10 pounds a month!
As for the yellow pages, I bet you use yours more than you know...my friend who told me he doesn't use it anymore found it quickly when he needed his house painted and yard redone. Then I pointed out all of the writing inside of it [yeah, that's my wife, he said]
If small businesses don't have a way to effiiciently reach ready to buy consumers then your trash bin will become even more cluttered with trash-mail and you'll kill even more trees. At least this is a buying guide that sticks around.
And, lastly, that yellow pages lying around has helped my husband build a very strong remodeling business....yellow pages has literally been the most influential thing in making our economy grow for 100 years~!
Reply
7-16-2008 @ 5:13PM
Walley Segap said...
As one that has worked in Yellow pages and Newspaper my thoughts are:
Usage will continue to evaporate especially in bigger cities
Emergency services will continue to be a good heading for yellow Pages along with Attorneys.
The golden era for both is over with more players fighting for fewer customers dollars.
Local papers may have some staying power as local business supports them.
Not all people shop for home services on-line. Many want to make sure they are dealing with local service providers.
The Yellow Pages have been basterdized by all the new players. Advertisers used to want the competition so prices would be lower. Instead they find they need some representation in all the different books. This is sort of extortion. Sales people can't make a decent living anymore because of the greedy publishers.
Reply
7-16-2008 @ 4:47PM
Mindy Lowery said...
I have worked in the YP industry myself and have to question where your getting your information. Yes, the industry has changed as they all do. However, you should have asked yourself the following questions:
1. Will I take the time to boot my computer and surf the net after my hot water heater has busted and is flooding my house?
2. If, for some reason, I find myself in BFE redneck country, where internet is virtually unheard of, how useful will the net be to me then?
You see, my dear, you have missed the boat on the yellow page industry. Yes, the internet is gaining usage, but there is a large quantity of people out there who don't even know how to turn a computer on or even own one for that matter. Internet is not being used heavily outside of metro markets at this time and still has a long, long way to go. I get the same arguement every year about the internet from clients and have had no problem selling customers ads and supporting my family. I agree with Stephanie Hobbs: go to www.ypassociation.org and do your homework. After all, knowledge is power.
Reply
7-16-2008 @ 9:24PM
Tracy Coenen said...
You see, my dear, you have missed the point that the usage of the physical yellow pages is going down year after year. That's what this article is about.
I've never been anywhere in which the internet is "virtually unheard of" and I don't think I want to go there. And I'm guessing that advertisers aren't dying to advertise to those areas either. I'm not sure what rock you live under, but the internet is actually very widely used across the country, not just in metro areas. It's kind of sad that you think it's not.
7-15-2008 @ 7:33PM
Scott said...
I look forward with anticipation to the day when yellow page books are a thing of the past. Not because of the waste of trees issue or the waste of space in the home issue but because as a former business owner the biggest bane of my existence was dealing with these crooks who peddle their tawdry wares. Oh the promises they make yet never deliver on. Oh the high prices they charge for such a worthless product.
There's a good reason businesses that have been around for many years reduce the size of their ad every year, they learn the ad reps lie and that bigger ads just mean bigger bills, not more customers. Those full color half page ads just break your bank account, they don't increase your customer base one little bit no matter what they tell you.
So yes, when I read this I felt good. The idea that these con artists could go broke makes me smile. They drove me into the poor house with their slick promises, sorry, not promises, the contract clearly states that they don't promise you anything other than an aggressive collection agency that will follow you until they get every penny you owe them.
Reply