Are the Yellow Pages Dead?
While there are many people who are quite willing to announce the death of the Yellow Pages, it hasn’t quite happened yet. Although, the monopoly print yellow pages had over local businesses has been broken by the advent and increasing use of tools like Local Search.
One of the biggest reasons the yellow pages are still alive and well is that there are lots of audiences that the Internet still doesn’t reach effectively. Demographics that include things such as age, income and geographical area affect Internet usage and will likely continues to do so far into the future.
Additionally, the tools that are available for local search aren’t quite perfect yet. Many of the online resources are trusted like the Yellow Pages are. And many consumers don’t believe they are as comprehensive as the print edition is known to be.
Beyond that there are plenty of small towns in America with small businesses that simply don’t have an Internet presence. While this may seem crazy to urban livers, the only way to find a local plumber in one of these places is word of mouth or the local Yellow Pages. Often times these businesses may not even have a basic web site or email address.
Another situation where the Yellow Pages trump the Internet is vacation. Many people unplug while they are out of town. Not to mention those that don’t have laptops and are still using only a desk top. However, the Yellow Pages can be found in any hotel around the United States when someone is looking for a local restaurant or business.
Beyond that, many people find it hard to browse pages and pages of restaurants rather than alphabetically finding what they are looking for. While the technology is certainly starting to come around, it’ll still be some time before the Yellow Pages draw its last breath.
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