Are Yellow Pages Dead?
I just received my complimentary yearly edition of the “Real Yellow Pages”. I was shocked how much it shrank in size in just one year. Are we witnessing the demise of the traditional yellow pages?
Two years ago my local copy was about 1000 pages thick, last year about 850 pages. This year? Just 600 pages.
It appears that many businesses area realizing how that it doesn’t make much sense to advertise there. They won’t be found in the yellow pages anymore, because people aren’t using anymore.
And be honest – raise your hand if you would – how many of you have used the yellow pages recently?
See what I mean?
It is just much more convenient to look up a business on the internet. If you don’t remember the name of the business, the computer will find it for you. Good luck with that with a phone book – and YOU have to do the searching.
It is even worse considering today’s mobility with the smart phones around. The company released a smaller “companion” to the yellow pages. About 400 pages, sheet size is about half of the regular book.
Who is about to carry such a book around?
If you think about it, you wonder why business are still advertising in the yellow pages.
Yes, it us cheaper, than let’s say TV/Radio ads or any other print ads including bill boards. And it is still true that some people, especially older ones, grab for the book if they need a service in a hurry, But research shows that 80% of potential customers look on the internet first when looking for a new product or service – and make their choice there.
And businesses realize that.
Remember the times when there were pages after pages with restaurants ads with their complete menu?This year there is just one restaurant with a full page ad.
So you see where the trend is going. Some are saying the yellow pages – at least in book form – will be a thing of the past in a few years.
And the yellow pages on the internet? You can advertise there of course. You can even have your own site – sort of. You see, you have access to this site but you’re not in control of it. For instance you have a link to the yellow pages on your site (it is like other “free websites”) .The site is also not that optimized for the search engines for your needs. In other words, you do advertising for them, they don’t do as much for you.
So, if you still use Yellow Pages for your advertising, good luck. You will need it. We, of course, specialize more on today’s media, including facebook, twitter, video, mobile, pinterest etc. We would, if you so desire, give you a hand for yellow pages advertising. It’s just we don’t recommend it that much.
Yellow pages Stacked: top is this year, bottom is last year – from more than an inch to less than an inch now.
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