Yellow Pages.......Thing of the past?

[Wacky Racer]

OK,

Would just like to canvass some opinions from the PH massive, so Mods, I would appreciate it if this is kept in here and not moved to the business section.....

So:-

Having run my retail business since the early seventies, for the last ten years or so, I have advertised in my local Yellow Pages, spending around £1200 anually on a decent sized display advert, covering my local area of about a million people. Naturally, I have not really much idea how much trade this ad brings in, when it first started, customers who travelled maybe ten miles might have said "Oh, we saw your ad in Yellow Pages"......so I thought it was maybe worthwhile back then.

However, my three adult sons, who of course have grown up in the internet age, say people these days go online, if they wanted to find say for example a bike shop in Stoke.....or if they wanted the phone number of their local "Chinese", they would Google it....It would not enter their head to look in Yellow pages......In fact, come to think of it, you hardly see their ads on TV anymore.....remember the J. S. Hartley Bookshop ads......

They suggest targeting my advertising "spend" on Google ads, Facebook etc, but I tend to be a bit of a Luddite where change is concerned.

What do you think?...When was the last time you used YP for anything?

Edited by Wacky Racer on Friday 9th October 22:18

[Famous Graham]

Change your book ad to a regular one line entry, and spend the saving on a highlighted ad on Yell.com?

Edited by Famous Graham on Friday 9th October 21:43

[Ireland]

I actually had this conversation in our office today.

We've been spending about €1,700.00 a year here on the Golden Pages (that's what they call it here) and it doesn't seem worth it any more.

If we want to look up a business we use Google and that's possibly where we'll be advertising in the future.

[E31Shrew]

When I first opened my shop in 2003 I also used YP as I thought it was the best way to get word around. For the first year it worked, as did the normal BT phonebook. Since 2005 I haven't bothered as it became a total waste of time. I personally never both looking in in any longer and just google local business websites

[Uhura_Fighter]

I haven't used yellow pages for years. It goes in the bin. Google or the local rag is my method of choice.

[Pints]

Another vote here for Google or Yell.com. We haven't taken our yellow pages out of its plastic in the last 7 years and it always just finds its way to the recycling bin.

[CatherineJ]

yell.com is what I use, indeed I threw our recently delivered yellow pages away only the other day.

[zac510]

To me yell.com results look dodgy and feel like they might be out of date, hence untrustworthy. They're so tightly tied to their categories too that it's difficult to navigate or know if you're in the right area. I steer clear! Not even sure if I have a yellow pages in the house for that matter.

You only have to read a few stories of hotels that have dropped off Google Maps (or the Google map results in the regular text search) and found their business drop off to find how much of a driver for this type of business these days.

I think your sons are on the right track

(edited because of all the posts in favour of Yell making my post look silly )

Edited by zac510 on Friday 9th October 21:54

[vxrandy]

Over the past five years or so I have reduced my spend from around £10k per year to £2k , but we have increased our online advertising. You just need to keep a presence in the book for the old folk out there

[Wacky Racer]

[jamiebae]

Yellow pages is usually a waste of money now, it costs too much and the return is nowhere near good enough.

You're better off spending on a website and SEO in most industries now.

[Westy Pre-Lit]

Yep Yellow pages is a waste of time IMHO.

We now use Yell.com. (although still not that great). Although the other day somebody from Wolverhampton(nowhere near us) called us regarding the fitment of an access control system in our area.

Yell.com is open to the whole country, where as Yellow pages isn't.

But I suppose when all said and done it's Horse's for course's really.

Edited by Westy Pre-Lit on Friday 9th October 21:57

[miniman]

Can't remember the last time I used either a paper Yellow Pages or the yell.com site. I willcome back to bt either use a local directory or Google.

[deevlash]

when I needed my washing machine fixed I found the guy in the yellow pages, thats once in the last 9 years (since I moved out of my parents house) that Ive used it.

[philthy]

We had the latest YP delivered the other day.
The binmen have already taken it away.

Google, or yell.

[eharding]

The only point of having a paper Yellow Pages delivered used to be seeing if they still had the "Boring - see Civil Engineers" gag in there, and thence it went directly to the bin. Since they've dispensed with the Boring section (as a result of complaints from Civil Engineers) it goes directly in the bin.

[tossbag]

I do various ad designs for various companies, and one thing that sticks in my mind is that around seven years ago yell.com had one office in a block of offices at Yellow Pages.
Now they have the whole block.

[Busa_Rush]

Haven't even seen a yellow pages for a few years no. Might use yell.com occasionally for a local service but usually google it.

[robinhood21]

Another Yell.com or Google user here. To be honest, am quite surprised that Yellow Pages is still going.

[oldbanger]

Yell.com or the local ad-mag "look local". If I'm looking for trades then it's definitely the local ad mag (plus the parish mag and other local news-sheets for local people)