Where did the Yellow Pages Go? To

SBC yellow page directories have been renamed AT&T yellow pages. Talking recently to one of their executives; he stated that they would like to be out of the publishing business altogether within five years. BellSouth and SBC spent over $100 million to acquire Yellow Pages.com.

Having talked to many of my clients that advertise in the new AT&T Yellow Pages the all say, without exception, they are receiving more business today from the Internet and then they are from the published Yellow Pages.

The savvy advertiser recognizes the importance of an Internet presence for local goods and services. If your customer is looking for patio furniture, for example, all you see in the printed Yellow Pages is a pretty picture of generic patio furniture, the name and location of the business and a phone number. If you go online you can visit each of the stores that are advertising patio furniture and physically view their inventory, check prices, and order the furniture.

The two Internet search engines that appeared to be dominating the market are Google Local and Yahoo Local. Why these two sites will dominate local Yellow Pages search is because they dominate the Internet search now. You can access their sites with handheld wireless devices and easily find the local business you are looking for.

The sales reps that sell AT&T and Verizon yellow page advertising are actively selling Internet advertising on their own Yellow Pages.com, Google Local, and Yahoo Local. The cost of purchasing a listing in a directory area for one Yellow Pages heading is $59 a month. Eventually, the prime placement at the top of the pages in headings like "Attorney" will cost thousands of dollars.

If you are a business owner without a web site AT&T will build a web site for you and place it on Google and Yahoo Local for free for a year and there is no cost per click charge.

The print Yellow Pages you will still receive will come from independent publishers that cover towns or neighborhoods. This part of the yellow page industry is expanding at 15% a year. Ads in these books cost a fraction of what the ads cost in a major AT&T directory.