Yellowpages, Seriously… Just Stop

Why do they still send these out?Warning: This post could be perceived as a Millennial rant. Sorry, not sorry. If you don’t want to hear/read my “whining,” feel free to move on.

This came in the mail on Wednesday. It’s the Yellowpages (or YP if you buy into their updated “hip” branding). When I pulled it out of the mailbox, I was caught off guard. I mean, why do they still send these out? Who uses them…? I’m just dumbfounded by the entire situation.

As I consider my irritation with the Yellowpages and why a thick book stuffed full of super thin yellow pages would rouse up such anger, I came up with a few core reasons:

  1. Waste of resources. There was a time and place when the Yellowpages and phone books in general were necessary and useful. It was a decade ago. Now most people carry around the Internet in their pocket. If they need to find local business options, they can Google it. They can go to their social networks to ask their friends (or connections) for recommendations. If they need coupons, guess what, those are on the internet too.
  2. Waste of resources. Again. I work in marketing. I know the ridiculously high prices YP charges businesses to have listings and ads within their various books (there’s one for each region). Seriously. I know the MONTHLY costs for these listings. If these same dollars were invested in paid search listings on Google, they’d be much more effective. I realize there is a small percentage of the population that doesn’t have a smartphone and may still rely on the Yellowpages, but it’s not big enough to justify that level of cost.
  3. Be responsible. If YP feels compelled to distribute these free “resources,” they should at least have the courtesy to be responsible about it. It’s not difficult to get demographic information on true YP users. Layer that with geographical data on where they live and only send books out to those folks. It would cut costs for printing (and save trees), cut costs for shipping, and then allow you to roll out advertising prices that are truly reflective of the viewing audience and fair for the businesses placing listings. Additionally, it would save the rest of us from the irritation and guilt of receiving one.

Currently my YP book is sitting on my kitchen counter as I debate what I will do with it… maybe recycle it? Use the pages as backdrop for my children’s watercolor and marker exploits? Send it back to YP as “Return to Sender” and make them deal with it…? I really don’t know. If you have any suggestions, please share.