sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General Telecom News The End of Verizon Yellow Pages

Was over at the Verizon yellow pages Operations in Middleton, Ma. that is now acquired an being run out of Texas.

New company is IDEARC Media, Inc. More Lost Jobs but also the yellow Pages have to now compete with the internet.

Talked to the mail room clerk who has worked there for 23 years.. The insight to this is bad news for the area. Is the old boy network finally retiring and selling out?

Here's a link to the story, dated in October.

I'm not positive, but I don't think any of the phone companies own the yellows pages any longer. Anyone know for sure?

Bill, that's it in a nutshell. One needs to read it twice to make it sink in.

I do know at one time the publisher was O'donnally out of Chicago. In the same sense this is information resources and a subscriber database that the phone company built. Number Please?


The segmented and bifurcated all at the same time.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYOUolZnGIs&eurl=

Funny, I just this second opened the idearc bill then saw this topic. This is the first time they put the idearc name on it, been going to DFW Texas for more than a year now.

The Yellow Pages were published by Ruben H Donnelly which was owned by AT&T and Bell since the begining.

As far as I'm concerned the Yellow Pages is very close to becoming a dinosaur. It's expensive to publish and expensive to advertise in. I think many people who use it do it out of habit or because its there. With the exception of some older people, most of the Yellow Page users would be just as happy finding their information on the internet.

I think that's what this is all about- a sinking ship. I dropped my ad, too much money for what it generates, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

-Hal

Hal, Your no bull understanding of the subject matter never ceases to Amaze me.

Excellent!

Donnely Directories became "the Yellow Book" when Bell dropped them.

My beef with Verizon's Yellow Pages is that we have about a dozen different directories published in this market. Each time one comes out, we receive at least ten copies. I have contacted Verizon more that once and asked them to only send two or three, but it falls upon deaf ears. They have even gone as far as to tell me to take them to a nearby recycling center. At 5+ pounds per book, this must be costing a fortune, just for shipping alone. Here I am trying to save them money (and myself as an advertiser), and they tell me to simply take the extras to the dump.

Just another case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing. Look at the cost; people losing their jobs.

I agree that the Internet is clearly the way to go for advertising, even if it involves using Verizon's Superpages. With Google, AOL and Yahoo, there's not much need for a printed directory anymore. Not to mention that many times, by the time the new edition comes out, advertisers are already gone. At least on-line advertising can be updated more regularly. Ads can also be updated regularly and potential shoppers are much more targeted.

I am not so sure that 411 won't go away or become a private enterprise as well. Telcos are looking to shed extra weight any way that they can.

Yellow Pages has long ago lived past its usefulness. It is much quicker & easier to look up numbers on-line.

In my region of Atlanta, I had to pay to be in 5 different books just to get coverage in the areas I serviced, it was costly. Just having a bold listing in column was $15 each month. If you were not listed in the book they gave out for an area, you could easily never know you may have lost a potential sale. What made it worse, my competitor used to use the line "If they're not in the yellow pages, would you trust them"

For a long, long time, Bell companies reaped a few extra bucks out of their commercial customers by milking them for YP advertising. I have long wondered if the cost for a back cover page ad was worth it. Commercial customers are already paying twice the price for a 1FB vs a 1FR.

A few weeks ago, some other member here had said he dropped the YP ad and got a "wrap" on his truck. I had a mobile car phone business for a while in the early 80's, and had the company name and phone number painted on the roof of the van in real big letters. The extra lettering cost me an extra $200 from getting the sides and rear done ($350) and the roof paint paid for itself within the first two weeks.

Advertise where your customers are. Your customers are not in the yellow pages, they are in the parking lots, on the road next to you, and in the office looking out the window as your pretty service vehicle rolls by.

We just dumped the Embarq Yellow pages. I noticed on the bill that it is no longer R.H. Donnelly, the new company is DEX.

OK guys............this thread is heading in the off topic direction fast.

Let's keep it to Telecom News with facts ONLY not personal opinion or hearsay.

Hope you understand.