Feedback for: Internet Yellow Pages Are Dead

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Internet Yellow Pages Are Dead by Justin Sanger

Anyone concluding Internet Yellow Pages are at death's door should first check the facts. IYPs are increasing market share every day, and sites such as SuperPages.com and YellowPages.com are setting records for unique visitors.

Research from comScore Networks shows:

• IYP users find what they are looking for much more quickly: in 4.6 clicks on average compared to 7.6 clicks on a search engine.
  
  
• IYP users spend more: 4 to 22 percent more per buyer than local search engine users.
  
  
• IYP searchers (57%) are more likely to make a purchase within a month of their local search activity than local searchers on search engines (48%).
  
  
• IYP users are more likely to visit financial, B2B, media, and manufacturer sites, while local search engines skew toward community, gaming, entertainment, and politics.
  
  
• With more than 20,000 Yellow Pages reps, IYPs possess the feet on the street to help small and medium-sized businesses generate the rich, robust local content that will make IYPs a destination for users for years to come.

IYPs are here to stay.

Neg Norton
President
Yellow Pages Association

Though I appreciate Mr. Sanger's funeral oration for Internet Yellow Pages, the report of our demise is greatly exaggerated.

Verizon SuperPages.com is setting monthly records for unique visitors, proving consumers recognize our Internet Yellow Pages provide the rich content they crave, including business profiles, maps, and restaurant reservations. We'll soon add coupons, user reviews and ratings.

Tap dance? Why, this elephant can roller skate!

Mr. Sanger did get one thing right: "The Yellow Pages dominate something far more elusive in the local search marketplace: small business sales."

When compared to search engines, Verizon SuperPages.com delivers buyers -- not browsers -- to local advertisers. ComScore reports IYP users spend 4 to 22 percent more per buyer. In addition, IYPs offer a more efficient local search experience, as the average user takes 4.6 clicks to find local results, while search engine users take 7.6 clicks.

SuperPages.com will be delivering the type of leads merchants have prized since the first Yellow Pages were published more than a century ago.

Eric Chandler
Vice President, E-Commerce Marketing
Verizon SuperPages.com

Take it easy! IYP is a large part of how we make a living. It appeals to so many in part because of it's lack of dynamic content and it's simple heading/category format. The inexpensive cost and simple sales model is attractive for advertisers. After all, it does work!

Like you, I believe local search is close to providing the best local search experience, and it's come a long way in the last 18 months. We sell it now as well. Ultimately, IYP will become a model of the past. Too bad. For a while there it "coulda been a contender."

Rich Hargrave