Comments on: It’s Almost 2009. Do You Still Need a Phone Book?

By: Sexy Lissa

Sexy Lissa — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:58:34 +0000

Hey, i dont wanna pay for a phone book, i dont have a computer the the public library says i cant use theirs till i pay my $8 fine, which after 6 month i still cant pay. I can see how wastfull it is. But if they treat them like the for rent book and restate book at store font and refill that i think people who want them can get them and people who dont use them can just keep walking….. but they would take up a lot of room… I just moved by the way and i am looking for an omaha one any idea where to find one i hear they just droped them off like a week before i moved here and they are all gone. and i am only 22 so yes young people use them!

By: John

John — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:05:40 +0000

I am a small business owner and yes internet is on the RISE, but so are the prices and to top it all off I am competing with Hundreds maybe even thousands on the internet. In the phone book I get the best bang for my buck, and compete with ONLY a handful. SO yes people still use the Phone book.

By: Naomi

Naomi — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:47:24 +0000

I am the owner of a small organizing business in a relatively small city. My yellow pages listings still pay for themselves at this point, but just barely. So much depends on who your customers are and how they find good and services (of course this is rapidly changing right now), and also the size of your business and what your advertising budget is. I expect (hope!) to phase out of advertising in the yellow pages in the next two years, maybe sooner.

By: Don

Don — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:41:28 +0000

I am a plumbing company owner. The Yellow pages still have a use however it is rapidly decreasing in ROI. Most homeowners are over 35 yrs and some still use the books. I can tell you they are very expensive and are a dying dinosaur. There online products are way too diluted at this time. Google for a plumber in your town and see how many directories and aggrigators show up. Way too many. All in all the print yellow pages won’t be around much longer

By: dyspeptic

dyspeptic — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:22:32 +0000

I called the number given me by Yellowbook twice. All I got was disconnected. I think these places want to create the impression that you can opt out, but in fact they want more copies out there, unwanted or not. Mine go straight into the recycle bin. What a stupid waste. I hate these companies. They are totally corrupt.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:15:21 +0000

Hey everyone- You can stop delivery of unwanted phone books, at least to your own residence. Here are the numbers to call:
Verizon (Superpages / Idearc):800.888.8448 (option2)
Dex (Yellow Pages): 877.243.8339
Yellow Book: 800.373.3280
AT&T/Yellow pages formerly SBC/Bell South: 800.792.2665 for AR, KS, OK, MO, and TX. All other states: 800.848.8000- press option 1 and then option 1 again.
Good luck out there in the uphill battle of waste reduction!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:48:17 +0000

I bet they go like hot cakes at the senior citizen homes.

By: SHobbs

SHobbs — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:14:19 +0000

Well, yes and no. To clarify, many states require that the White Pages be delivered on a regular basis, but the Yellow Pages are advertiser-supported, so there’s no requirement to deliver.
Most publishers don’t want to deliver to consumers who don’t want to use the books, so you can usually opt-out by going to their sites or calling them.
Don’t bother with the sites that are taking third-party lists, most publishers won’t accept them for privacy reasons.
FYI, we did “student on the street” interviews at a college in San Diego and found that 80% of the students had recently used the books (and no, they weren’t senior citizens!). That’s hardly a qualified statistic but even we were surprised by the result. A more dependable stat is our usage study for 2007, which showed that US consumers referenced the print directories over 13.4 billion times.
Basically, people want information in many formats, including online and print, via cell and the radio and yes, even newspapers. Hard to believe but there are still people who can’t get online at work. It’s not an either or proposition. Full disclosure, I work for the Yellow Pages Association.

By: Nor-mel

Nor-mel — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:25:30 +0000

I’m just amazed advertisers believe they’re getting their money’s worth with these things.

By: Lloyd Alter

Lloyd Alter — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:12:11 +0000

phone books are like newspapers; nobody under 35 uses them, but there are still a lot of people over 35 in this world. And they will never be pay-as-you-go’ the advertising rates are determined by the guaranteed circulation.
On the other hand, they make great insulation and you could build yourself a nice garden shed out of them and the advertisers would never know.