About The Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages directories were first introduced in the late 19th century. Originally conceived of as a support for telephone users, that concept changed in the second half of the 20th century when phone directories became a profit center.

In a trend which has accelerated dramatically over the past few years, the number of publishers and directories has increased substantially. Independent publishers have proliferated. With deregulation of the telephone industry, the identification of "utility" publishers is being lost as is the dominance they once enjoyed. Nearly all communities are now served by 2, if not more, directories. In addition, there may be neighborhood, regional, ethnic, and special interest directories.

With over 6000 directories in the United States alone, annual yellow pages revenues have grown to over $11 billion, making them among the largest advertising media available.

According to studies commissioned by the Yellow Pages Publishers Association, over 90% of all adults use the yellow pages -- an average of nearly twice each week. These are not casual users who read the book for fun; these are people, ready to buy a product or service, who are looking for a source. On average, over half of them have not yet decided whom to call.

They look at multiple ads. And while in many cases a listing may be enough, studies have shown that in-column ads draw an average of twice as many responses -- and display ads nearly 7 times as many calls.

Unique among the major media, the Yellow Pages are "on call" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are ready whenever your customer is.

There is little doubt that the Yellow Pages works.

Our challenge is make sure you get cost-effective use of the medium.