Nature continues to take a bashing as dead Christmas trees and towers of yellow pages litter the landscape. The tower in our photo has been teetering outside our building for over two weeks, eagerly rejected by the nine businesses within.
The yellow pages site intros with “For decades, the Yellow™ Directory has been bringing buyers and sellers together. A Yellow™ Directory is readily available to people in virtually every home and business across Australia. It is the most used source of buying information when people are looking for suppliers of products and services.” The source for this insight is independent research which took place across Oct’98-Sep’99!! me thinks times are a changin’.
Anyone with no online access (now approx 17% Australian’s down from 95% in 2001, source Nielsen) may choose to op-in to receive their annual volumes but the rest of us might chose to opt-out, given the choice that is.
With Sensis starting to produce great new products such as the soon to be re-launched whereis let’s have an opt-out option for some of their less vibrant products. With approx. 5 million copies being distributed each year, some with over 3,000 pages we roughly calculate that we’re talking about 7 billion pages all up. If say 50% of us opt-out then hello we just saved 3.5 billion pages from being sucked out of the environment.
Let your conscience do the talking.
Yes agreed. Only thing useful about the YP is when you run out of TP. Start from Z and work your way back!
by admin on February 4th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
which explains why Z has been missing in our toilet’s YP copy
by admin on February 4th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Couldn’t agree more. Question is will the design and print outfit that has the YP ‘bog roll’ account be restructuring there business and offering in the near future? I can’t imagine how much virgin forest is used to produce these things…I read somewhere the other day that one edition of the New York Times uses 500,000 trees….I imagine on that basis the YP uses most of Papa New Guinea!!!
by Matt on February 4th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I’ve checked…95% of YP companies use printers that use re-cycled paper and pulp. So, you might want to do your homework before blaming YP publishers for axing your neighborhood forrests.
As far as unused Christmes trees…may I remind you that this trees are grown on farms that harvest them for this purpose? Give me a break…you probably feel the same about uneaten steak left on plates in restaurants.
by Bruce on February 4th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
People leave steak on their plates??
This is about choice as much as anything. Irrespective of re-cyled paper and pulp which certainly softens the environmental blow why are so many produced?
This is really my point in a more enlightened.com era.
by admin on February 4th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I guess the true measurement will be the pace of revenue for the YP phone book companies. When advertising customers begin to feel that it is no longer a good return on their investment, they will move that advertising budget somewhere else. Until then, we’ll see those phone books by the truck load. Most likely, the revenue stream will go then towards IYP (Internet Yellow Pages). The move is coming and these small business enterprises are sure to make some tough decisions that will effect their bottom lines
by Bruce on February 5th, 2008 at 1:59 am
Wouldn’t Yellow’s main concern aside the environment be the decreasing relevancy of Yellow Pages as a concept. The only version is clunky and supported by dated infrastructure … on the other hand you have listings incorporated into Google which are ten times better and allow for user feedback and slick map integration …
I’d argue the ‘Yellow Pages’ as we know them will be redundant within 5-10 years and become another footnote in history.
by Ben on February 5th, 2008 at 11:26 am
only = online in the above.
by Ben on February 5th, 2008 at 11:27 am
I do believe that print YP as we know it will change drastically over the next 4-5 years. The change in advertiser dollars will go towards internet yellow pages that will support local advertisers. Yahoo and Google lack the “leather on the street” (sales reps that call on local small business) to compete locally. Also, the average small business owner lacks the computer skills or savy to place Yahoo and Google ads effectively…they will depend on local reps to handle online placement for IYP and Yahoo and Google. However, as long as the print product is effective for the small business owner, expect to see them hang around. The fastest growing IYP is Yellow Book.com. It has people search, reverse # look up, easy to use, shows maps to business searches, supports local advertisers, and it is free to use. I use it every day at work and home.
by Bruce on February 6th, 2008 at 2:15 am
I just read that YP print is a $15.9b industry…actual look ups in print are still flat lined or better. As long as this is true…print will be here for a while. I asked 9 computer literate friends today if they still use the print at times…all but 1 stated that they had used the YPs in the last week. The industry states that 4 out of 5 adults use the YPs 8 times per month. That really surprised me. I believe that the average Joe uses the YPs more than I thought. Also, internet usage is different based on where you live, southern states are not as high as other areas. There are areas that YPs usage is very high and others that it is very low.
by Bruce on February 6th, 2008 at 3:38 am
Hi Bruce, can we presume you work at yellow.com? Not that it matters.
The macro issues here are that as internet search is on the increase the relevance of printed search is under threat and as you suggest will change dramatically in the next 4-5 years.
If we accept that printed usage is declining why does it cost more every year for a listing/ad? Also i do believe an opt-out option is worth ‘testing’ with the consumer at large. In addition to the environmental impact this can help reduce your fixed overheads in line with demand. A current ad for yellow pages, here, states that over 10 million directories are delivered each year, even more than we originally suggested in the original post.
As to online migration here in Australia http://www.yellowpages.com.au is a thoroughly underwhelming and frustrating service……which is a shame, ask anyone.
by admin on February 6th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I don’t work for yp.com. However, I am very interested in the new developments in this industry. I amazes me that 100 year old product is still around…even though waning at present. As far as pricing…I asked a locksmith that advertises in the yellowpages if his cost on the ad increases each year…he stated that it had not for the last few years but he gets more ads in different headings each year for free. He stated that he spends 1/4 of his budget on the internet and the other 3/4 on YP print.
It is a shame that the migration there is not up to par. If that doesn’t change soon it will be a critical blow to that industry.
Good hearing from you, always nice to be able to state opinions and debate.
Good Luck!
by Bruce on February 7th, 2008 at 2:14 am
We need a opt out program like in the States. http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org Does anyone know if we have one here?
by Stacie Jones on April 24th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Food for thought - the CEO of http://www.yellow.com.au or Sensis in Australia is Bruce Akhurst. Possible relation?
by Elizabeth on June 23rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm