Geoff reports he doesn’t. I don’t even know where mine are. I’d hate to work there, although there’s still money left in that old model cause there’s still lots of people who don’t look to their computers for everything.
Most of those people, though, are older than me. That means that business model has 20 years left in it, if that.
I hope I am alive to see the last Yellow Pages book shipped.
Advertisement:
Scobleizer Archives 
Google Reader Shared Items
Twitter Feed 
Tech Events Calendar 
Travel Schedule 
Daily Calendar 
Photos on Flickr 
Join my group on FastCompany.com 
About Me 
RSS Feed
|
Robert Scoble works at Fast Company.TV (title: Managing Director). Everything here, though, is his personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. No warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions or anything else offered here.
rscoble@fastcompany.com
+1-425-205-1921
Powered By WordPress
October 19th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
I actually found a 2 yr old yellow pages hidden away in the basement. And the only reason I was looking for it was for my wife. She has acid reflux and the doctor recommended putting 2 yellow pages under the headboard to prop up the bed :)
Love the ScobleShow - Freedom from MSFT seems to be working out well for you. :)
October 19th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Any time I’m looking for a local business or person, I use the yellow pages. (Or rather, the Internet version of the yellow pages at SuperPages.ca)
It just can’t be beat when you’re trying to find a brick and mortar store. There are still a lot of businesses that either don’t have a web presence or don’t have a very good web presence. (And yes, I agree with you that they should get online, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they aren’t there yet and I need to work with them now.)
Now if I’m just looking up information in general, and it doesn’t matter if it’s local or not, I do the Google thing.
October 19th, 2006 at 5:57 pm
Dave, I’ve been using http://local.google.com/ a lot more lately and it has been getting a lot better over the past few months. It’ll be interesting to see if in a year you still are using SuperPages.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
One of the important unknowns of the industry is that Yahoo and Google license their Yellow Pages / Local capabilities from one or another YP company.
You can get rid of the books, but it seems that the “new media” players don’t yet have the ability to provide this service on their own, without some help from the dynosaurs!
October 19th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
Absolutely! The yellow pages serve as great kindling for BBQ at the beach and for my 2 year old as a make shift booster chair.
Seriously, tho. I really wonder how much longer this business will be around.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:19 pm
I would feel it is much better to have this ability with another YP company. It would be too much for a single entity to handle all effectively.
It has been a couple of yrs since I saw a Yellow Pages. May be the YP companies need to change the way they look at their business. I had been using local.Google.com and pretty much satisfied.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
Of all the advertising I do–online, print, radio, newspaper, etc.–Yellow Pages advertising brings in the most sales. I know, because I ask everyone every time, and over half my new businesss comes from Yellow Pages advertising.
Go figure.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
:-D
October 19th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
Rich, what kind of business and where?
I don’t doubt that, by the way. 51% of people in Washington DC woke up with a Washington Post newspaper in front of their doors too. Breaking old habits is very hard to do.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
I just use Google Local. Type in “Italian Manchester, NH” brings up a list of every good/great Italian restaurants in my city. I instantly can get directions, phone numbers, and a direct link to their web site, which has a menu and information.
No Yellow Pages can match that. And I guarantee that Google Local is more accurate then my year or two old yellow pages.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
I use the Yellow Pages from time to time. But only the online version, never the paper version.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
I have moved a lot over the years and honestly, the yellow pages usually have coupons and other interesting info. *sigh* I like them but no longer take the time to use them since online sources are always literally at my fingertips. Those are the fingers that do the walking now. I don’t often find the same draws on websites like coupons & other special offers like I did in the Yellow Pages.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
I used it this morning to look up Time-Warner’s local number when I lost both cable TV and cable internet. You can’t Google a phone number unless you can get to Google.
October 19th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
billg: good point. I have Verizon Wireless for those occassions.
October 19th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
It will be interesting to see which dies first - newspapers or directories.
deannie: online coupon sites are starting to fill that gap. They should be able to figure out what it is that *you* actually like, and offer appropriate coupons and recommendations.
October 19th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
I have at least 3 copies of yellow pages, and I use them as booster seat when my kids friends come over.
However, I wonder if it’s more that the model must change in the next 20 years, rather than it expiring. I would argue that this change to the model has already started.
There are a couple sites (QwestDex.com & yp.aol.com) that offer an electronic version of the big book. The entries into this have to come from somewhere. I’m sure before you sort by distance, the first set of results these sites present are based on some type of tiered model, much like when you buy inches in a big book. I understand that sites like local.google are also provide results, but I’m not sure if they are my first pick.
I personally use qwestdex and yp.aol.com more for finding phone numbers, I use local.google.com to get a visualization of where those places are.
Also, I really believe that the reason more don’t use the online YP services is marketing. In the Albuquerque area, the local telco heavily markets Qwestdex.com as the best source of up to date phone listings (not to mention paid advertising on the site). In the Northern Virginia area where I currently live, there is NO mention by Verizon that they offer an online yp service (I don’t think Verizon has one). If Verizon were to build a service and market it effectively (heck, all they would need to do is put it on the current phone books and as a pre-printed “stamp” on the monthly FIOS ad in my mailbox), they would be able to drive a ton of volume to their site. Just as Qwest does in their territories.
As long as there is a differentiation between the data and the visual, the yellow pages companies will continue to charge for placement, and they will continue to be successful.
October 19th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
I’ve only got two complaints against local.google.com. Both of which will clear up with enough time.
First, is that google is great for a something like: ‘find me a barber within 10 km’ but the Yellow Pages is better suited for: ‘find me all barbers within 10 km.’
Second, it’s good for non-obscure searches in large US towns. However, searching internationally, or in a small town, or for something a little odd, will typically net poor results. For example, if I was looking for a place to get my chainsaw sharpened, I would get a decent result in the Yellow Pages where Google tells me to check eBay. Yahoo told me to look in Texas, and MSN won’t search outside of the US at all.
October 19th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
Geoff: Newspapers aren’t going to die. Bloggers aren’t going to replace them, but newspapers should use blogging technology in both news production and distribution.
Smart papers will figure out they are not wedded to the printing press. Stupid ones will be bought by the smart ones. We’ll eventually see several large-scale but decentralized “newspapers” built on blog tech. People will complain about them just as much as they complain today.
October 19th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
I am not sure if you guys have noticed but the “Find businesses” tab of local.google.com is POWERED BY YELLOWPAGES.COM!
Do a search, scroll to the bottom and notice the little disclaimer. It says, right there:
Business listings distributed by YellowPages.ca™
You ARE using the YellowPages everytime you do a business search under local.google.com….just not the old dusty one sitting in a cupboard or closet somewhere.
October 19th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
[...] Tonight Scoble asks how many still use the Yellow Pages. [...]
October 19th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Doncha ever order a pizza? Yellow Print Pages are easier to find local info, than web-wading imho…
October 19th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
We throw the Yellow Pages away as soon as we get them. Have done for the past five years.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:34 am
Well, I’m using the yellow pages to raise a computer monitor up to a more comfortable height. Does that count?
October 20th, 2006 at 6:42 am
I use the paper ones because up hear in Maine the online listings always seem to be incomplete and searching the web normaly only hits companys with web pages which for smaller local Co’s. I also find it easier to find things in the paper copy when I don’t know what grouping they have placed. The other anoying thing is the paid placement of companies that are not in the area.
October 20th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Robert: Video Production and Photography in Upstate NY. Coincidentally, I just signed a contract for additional Yellow Book advertising about an hour ago. I spend less on Yellow Pages advertising than any other form, and get more results. Go figure. (And no, I don’t have any vested interest in any of the companies selling the advertising)
Newspaper advertising, OTOH, is about as effective as throwing money in a fountain.
October 20th, 2006 at 6:54 am
I actually used my yellow pages book for the first time in the almost 3 years I’ve been in my apartment last Friday. There was a power outage (I’m in Buffalo, you might have heard about our little snowstorm) and I needed to look up the number for the NYS thruway so I could find out when they reopened the roads. I’m sure glad that phone book was still sitting there…
October 20th, 2006 at 7:12 am
Yeah, I still use them. I used them a month or so ago when I was shopping for a bed. Just was easier for me.
October 20th, 2006 at 7:26 am
As foreshadowing of Yellow Pages fate…TV Guide’s Canadaian operations announced:
“…the November 25, 2006 issue will be the last issue of TV Guide as a print publication. Instead, TV Guide will be produced as a Web magazine starting November 28th.”
October 20th, 2006 at 7:47 am
I think it will be a very sad day when the printed word becomes obsolete :(
October 20th, 2006 at 8:00 am
Dave: why? What is so good about killing trees and using up physical resources just to pass information around? That seems to me to be a pretty inefficient method of sharing information.
October 20th, 2006 at 8:27 am
We had a new one show up at our door the other day. nearly 4 inches thick (Manhattan..) I promptly put it right into the recycle bin.
October 20th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Nothing is good about killing trees etc. and I accept that it isn’t the most efficient way of sharing information, but I think there is much to be said for providing future generations with physical records - just think about how much wastage of information there will be from our generation. Sites like your own provide a wealth of views and ideas which will never be read by anyone after a couple of years. I think it’s also a bit of a shame to kill off an art that has been in development since mankind first started drawing on cave walls! ;)
October 20th, 2006 at 8:38 am
Another myopic viewpoint from a sheltered SV community. You would have a point of the books were getting smaller every year. That doesn’t seem to be the case, though.
Small businesses still do get a pretty good return by advertising in the yellow pages. That’s not going to change anytime soon.
October 20th, 2006 at 9:10 am
I tossed them all a year ago (and the new ones went straight to the trash bin.) I’m still waiting for my boyfriend to notice … he didn’t want me to toss them when I brought it up.
October 20th, 2006 at 10:06 am
It’s a big city bias. Move to a small town (50,000 or below), and the amount of info available on the web drops off sharply. You still need yellow pages, white pages, and the local newspaper in places like that.
October 20th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
[...] I think he is wrong. [...]
October 20th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
The Yellow Pages aren’t dead yet
I’d just finished designing a half dozen Yellow Pages ads for a client when a timely blog post caught my eye. It was Geoff Wilson at PseudoFish heralding the coming death of the Yellow Pages. While Google Local and other web sites may be taking busine…
October 20th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
What is this “Yellow Pages” you speak of?
Seriously…i am surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but i find texting googl(46645) a great way to find places while on the road.
October 21st, 2006 at 8:43 am
‘Yellow Pages’ huh?
Just forgot it. Search engines + Directorie, enough for you.
November 28th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
I would be willing to bet that most of the comments on this page come from a younger demographic. Babyboomers still do the most spending and still use the yellow page books. The most cost effective medium of advertising for small businesses is still undisputably YP’s and will remain so for a long time to come!
January 31st, 2007 at 7:50 pm
I use it almost every day at least once a day.
Best local way to shop of compare stores in the area!
March 18th, 2007 at 6:04 am
If by Yellow Pages you are referring to the once-a-year printing, binding and delivery of a 3-pound paper package of information. No, I have not used that in over 4 years, but I am in technology, so I have other sources of information readily available.
Show me a printed Yellow Pages that has a map of the stores I am looking for in any category. Which has user reviews and ratings. Which has that cool restaurant that just opened 2 months ago. That has menus of the restaurants. That allows me to place an order and look thru the establishment’s inventory.
Nope, printed Yellow Pages will not survive when electronic information is ubiquitous. 20 years, MAX.
March 18th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
When there is a free online alternative like http://TrackAny.Biz/ which shows you the map, and helps you find similar business easily, why should any one need to carry around a book?
March 18th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Yellow Pages is a $15 billion industry, 95% of which comes from the print directories, This “Information Super Highway” has taken nearly 20 years to make even a small dent in revenues for these companies. Radio didn’t replace newspapers, TV didn’t replace radio, and the internet won’t replace the yellow pages. We’ll continue to grow through print & online directories and search engine marketing. Trust me, my pay check proves it.
March 19th, 2007 at 8:17 am
As Jon noted back in October the search engines rely on content “powered” by the existing offline directories. Has anyone observed where strong regional players such as YellowBook stands in the online space? If Google and Yahoo and MSN command 80+% search share combined how would YellowBook or others get a foothold?
March 24th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
We are constantly recommending online advertising as a supplement form of advertising to our already entrenched Yellow Page advertising clients. Yellow Page advertising should be embraced as long as it works, but never as an “always and as much as you can” form of advertising. Hopefully online advertising will give some leverage to business owners forced to advertise in the often overpriced Yellow Pages medium. I must admit, we have countless clients eagerly waiting for the complete and permanent transition from Yellow Pages to some form of online advertising. I’m skeptical to say the least. Like one of the previous posters pointed out, “radio didn’t kill newspapers, TV didn’t kill radio…” and so on. But there is always the remote chance that Yellow Pages could go the way of the 8-track. time will tell. maybe even a very short time.
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:38 am
just been quoted £ 851-88 to put my company to a yell.com link, what a tolal rip off. this company should be investigated by the office of fair trading.
it will only exsit if people keep on feeding its profits.
July 18th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
I started advertising in the yellow pages 20 years ago. In the end I was in 2 books in my area, spending 15,000 per month. Now that around 30 to 50 percent of local searches are done online; you would think the advertisers would lower their prices, to reflect usage, not distribution. I wish people could opt out of receiving Yellow Pages. Then maybe they would have to change their business model. Why fill landfills and kill trees to line the pockets of these greedy litter bugs?
September 29th, 2007 at 11:09 am
I FIND THIS INTERESTING AND AGREE WITH ALMOST ALL THE COMMENTS ON HERE. I AM A BUSINESS OWNER AND DO NOT APPRECIATE THE “THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL PAY” ATTITUDE THE YELLOW PAGES HAS WITH ME. I BELIEVE WE ARE GETTING OUT. HOWEVER, I BELIEVE THE PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY READ AND COMMENT ON HERE ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE THE ONES THAT USE THE INTERENET INSTEAD OF THE PHONE BOOK. THE PEOPLE WHO STILL USE THE PHONE BOOK PROBABLY NEVER MAKE IT HERE……JUST A THOUGHT. MAYBE THATS WHY THERE IS A NEGATIVE TREND TOWARDS THE PHONE BOOK HERE…..WERE ALL INTERNET USERS.
September 30th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Bob, the trend is moving towards online phone books and local search and away from print phone books. There are still people using print phone books and people paying to advertise in them but the shift is happening.
Kelsey Group analysts have predicted that the growth in print phone book advertising will only grow by 0.9 percent over the next 5 years whist online phone book and local search advertising is expected to grow by 4.9 percent annually. Have a look at their press release here http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-07-2007/0004541380&EDATE
October 1st, 2007 at 3:16 pm
One correction to all of your commentary: the YP print industry DOES NOT knock down any trees for their paper. When you take a round tree to mill it for lumber you get more than enough by-products which when combined with 40%+ recycled content gives them all the paper they need….
October 24th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
yellow pages strike again, latest rip off, put
AAAAAA in front of your company name and go stright to the front of your comptitors.
November 17th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I wish we could opt out on yellow page delivery. I would in a heartbeat. And I don’t like Yellowpages.com. For years I advertised in the print book. I understood that you had to sign up for a year. They print it and it stays out for a year. They make there internet advertisers sign up for a year as well. The performance of my Ad stinks. They could take it offline easy. They won’t.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:08 am
why should they take it off line when they can make more money. I’m constantly bombarded with yell.com telling me my advert is not performing well, It won’t perform at all next year.
Best rip off so far is that if you are a constant client, they are obliged to give you a discount, but as there is a price increase each year, they tell you that you won’t have to pay it. bollocks.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
The printed books are handy away from the computer room, e.g. we’re in the kitchen and decide to eat out, or we’re in the car and want to find restaurants in an unfamiliar suburb. Not everyone leaves their PC switched on.
Even in a web browser an IYP site is better than a Google search because a search result doesn’t tell me if I have looked at all the available resuts for a given area. You just see the ones who used SEO or you see many results that aren’t business listings but might rank for the search query, e.g. they are reviews. The printed book (or IYP) lists every business in a given heading - some IYPs also have ratings and reviews, which can help narrow down a choice.