Happy Yellow Pages Distribution and Paper Recycling Day, everyone!
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:53 am ETToday was Yellow Pages Day in Manhattan — that public holiday of long standing in which elves scurry about throughout the night and into the wee hours of the morning, depositing identical yellow books, shrinkwrapped in groups of six, on doorsteps throughout the land.
I passed several of these parcels, unwanted and unloved, on my walk from the subway to work this morning. I even momentarily fingered a copy of the 2010-2011 Yellow Book, thinking “I should take this home, maybe I’ll need it.” Then I stopped myself. For what? What could possibly be in that book that I can’t find more quickly, search for more effectively, evaluate more usefully online? I set it down, walked into the office… and found a copy of the 2010-2011 Yellow Book already sitting in the office recycling bin.
Like the landline that it once existed to serve, the Yellow Pages is on its way out. Even nine years ago (!), when I was trying to promote my fledgling bookstore, the ad salespeople were already desperate. (I didn’t bite. What they were charging was ridiculous, and even in 2002 the Yellow Pages already felt “over.”) Now they must be apoplectic from the stench of their own imminent obsolescence. This is a business that still exists only because certain parties (ad salespeople, printing companies, certain types of traditional businesses and conservative businesspeople) are locked in a cycle of mutual addiction and denial, reinforced by a dollop of voodoo and magical thinking. Of all the types of advertising your small business could possibly pay for in the current environment, the Yellow Pages must be one of the least trackable, and it’s certainly one of the least nimble.
Which is why you saw things like this on the street today in Manhattan:
The first three photos above were taken about 7pm, roughly 15 hours after the elves made the last of their deliveries. That last photo was taken at midnight (approaching 24 hours after dropoff) in the lobby of an apartment building. I repeat: in almost 24 hours, nobody in this 10-unit apartment building took a copy. To the constituency allegedly intended to consume it (whose consumption of it is the product being sold to advertisers), this product is literally worth nothing. Why is this thing still being produced again?
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Rich Mintz blogs on online fundraising and social media, American history and culture, bicycling and urbanism, food, technology, and other topics. Professionally, he's an expert in fundraising, constituency development, and social media for nonprofits, cultural organizations, cause-related marketers, and corporations. He is based in New York, where he serves as Vice President, Strategy, for 
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:24 am
because it was used for nearly 14 billion look-ups in the US last year
September 2nd, 2010 at 4:49 pm
It’s a 12 Billion dollar industry you moron, you may not use it, your friends may not use it, your family may not use it (perception), but I can say the same thing about city buses and I will, I don’t ride them, my friends don’t ride them my family members don’t ride them…..conclusion buses are obsolete, no buses get used enough that every major city (including your beloved Manhattan) spend a lot of money making them available. Yellow pages brings buyers and sellers together at the time they already made the decision to to buy, they just need to know who locally does it, or has it. The internet is also a way to do the same, but all across America the high speed connectivity is at best 45% Average due to cost and service, that means that an advertisers buying message at the most critical time probably will not be available if he relys solely (2010) on Internet. Yellow Pages on the other hand is delivered to every home and business in it’s coverage area FREE, that means 90 percentile penetration with the advertisers message. Also all the same info in a yellow page ad is enough to satisfy the need to entice a phone call or visit for business, the ads have web addresses for more info etc. Why do you think most large reputable Yellow Page Publishers also are on the digital front…..because they know they have always been in the business of putting buyers and sellers together and have used Yellow Pages as the effective vehicle for over 130 years. Yellow page publishers also know there is a technology shift to the digital world for buyers and sellers and they are right there with feet on the street sales people to help guide the advertisers to the effective affordable use to attract customers like they have been doing for over 130 years. No company wants to pay to print books, bind books, load books on a truck unload books off a truck and then hand deliver to every home and business if they don’t have to. But the fact is call measurement from independent sources still prove that in 2010 calls are still happening, businesses are making great returns on investment and did I mention it’s a 12 billion dollar industry? Just to give you and idea of what a billion is; a billion seconds ago was 1959, a billion minutes ago Jesus was alive, a billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the stone ages (using yellow pages, LOL) and a billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet, now imagine 12 times that and that’s your useless 2010 yellow pages at work, 95% recycled paper( the other 5% comes from the waste from making round trees in to square boards) has been used, vegetable based inks have been used for over 10 years (before anyone complained) so you may ride the bus, I don’t, I may use the yellow pages you don’t but the fact remains the same in 2010 the VALUE of the product is still there………I work for a 40 year old company that does print yellow pages, does Internet Yellow pages and web banner advertising, soon to be in the web coupon business, mobile App ads and any other digital product that will bring my customers a good return on investment. So if you were to go to your investment broker and tell him you would like 10% returns on your investments each year would you then proceed to tell him were he can and can not invest that money to get the best return? no you let the expert invest, same with the YP industry we will place some money in PRINT, some in Online and some mobile because we are the experts to get your ROI. So sorry to call you I moron I’m sure you did not know, maybe in 2020 you’ll be right but not in 2010, we don’t care either we will have what the customer needs to get business. Think outside the perception always rely on fact, it will serve you well.
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