We had our new Yellow Pages delivered this morning. Hooray! Apparently 550 million of them were delivered in the USA as recently as last year.
The half dozen copies we received, weighing in at 30 lbs,  will go directly into our recycle bin. Last fall there were hundreds
delivered to the mail room at our 25 story condo in Toronto. I never saw anyone pick them up and I believe the majority were recycled as well.

So what’s the scoop? Advertising is still being sold aggressively and the book still appears to be pretty thick. I can understand bars, restaurants and the local payphone using them to a point but don’t most people have cell phones with internet access?

Yellow Pages can post big circulation numbers but actual usage? I still occasionally use the online version but I can’t remember the last time I cracked open the actual book. How about you? Is the horse dead or is it just not running at a full gallop? By the way, did you know the reason they are yellow?  A hundred years ago the printer ran out of white paper. How’s that for innovation?

As the internet and web continue to revolutionize how we communicate what lies ahead for the good old Yellow Pages. Does anybody out there use them as a reference? If you are still advertising in them can you trace business to it? Love to hear your thoughts.

Lee’s Quote for the Day

“Probably the biggest factor keeping the yellow pages alive is the fear of change and hanging on to the philosophy of “We’ve always done it that way”. It’s sad to see an icon disappear but I guess we will all share a time where we need to quietly ride off into the sunset.”