The Yellow Pages is a dying biz, too one dimensional.
I'm not saying they WILL buy YP, just that it would be a great fit.
Bring the YP out of the stone ages and let them tap their true potential digitally.
I mean think about it, the YP is 6 inch thick book filled with information that becomes outdated the day it's printed. YOU SHOULD be able to get this info by using Google.
You are right that it is a great fit, classifieds is core to Google. I just think Yell is too strong. Although I also agree that the Yellow Pages model is out of date, they are still cash cows.
As a rep for Yellow Pages I can tell you that the book is still growing on usage and customers year on year. Each rep is targeted to grow Yellow Pages by selling colour, larger areas & yell.com and they do it with ease! I would definitely say that Google would be on to a winner by buying the group although I doubt that they would have the funds at this stage.
Yellow Pages is a highly used dying medium. The true power of a merger like this is content. The yellow page companies have the richest content and the vehicle to collect the content. The national sales forces in the UK and the US would drive sales and collect content. A sales force this large could do amazing things with a product as strong as Google.
Yellow Pages also has the US market with Yellow Book in 45 states and their whole sales force that have relationships with LOCAL businesses and local content. If they could swing it it would be huge for all sides and for the users.
I want a service on my mobile that when I SMS or do a WAP search it gives me relevant results based on my location and what my local yellow pages offers.
There is a big disconnect between local search and what my Yellow Pages shows..
Make the YP mobile and quick and you have true mobile search.
Yellow Book print advertising is not seeing a drop in usage like many think. We have done competitive metered ads in markets. We put a remote call forwarded number in a customers ad(s) that only appears in our book. We have done this with several advertisers over the years, and call volumes remain the same each year. The statement that it's a dying industry is a bunch of boloney. It's false perception. Also, the Wall Street Journal did an extensive study that found 61% of all Americans use the Yellow Pages to find LOCAL info quickly and another 7% use and IYP. So the YP industry owns nearly 70% of all local searches. Google would love our info, but they can't afford it. Info is king, and Yellow Book has he most LOCAL info of all YP companies, and they aren't going to give it up any time soon.
To add further comment on June 23, 2007's posting... comparing Yellow Page searches vs. Internet searches, the Yellow Page industry currently has 13 billion searches (nationally) whereas Internet searches amount to 1 billion and change (nationally). What I find interesting is that the Internet searches that were included in the 1 billion were searches like "who was the president in 1928". Yes, Yellow Pages has been around for over 100 years, but it is the oldest, effective and efficient search engine for local businesses. For example, if I were to look for a plumber (i.e. "plumbers, los angeles, ca") on google or yahoo, I would get a list of plumbers from all over the place (most might not live in my neighborhood). However, if I were to look for a plumber in the Yellow Book or any other Yellow Page directory pertaining to my area, it would be easier to find a LOCAL plumber. Keyword LOCAL. Regardless of perception the yellow page industry has, it is still a great tool for finding LOCAL businesses. Lastly, Yellow BOOK is the ultimate in yellow page directories because of it's user friendly features like the coverage area map, restaurant section, coupon section, etc... ok. I'll stop. I'm sounding like a commercial (hehe).
I sell for a national yellow page directory and I can tell you the perception is that is is a dying medium, but the reality is that usage is still strong. and the value for your dollar is excellent. we use metered numbers to prove results and the roi is not attainable with any other form of local advertising. many campaigns make back the yearly investment with one or two customers. the ads bring more than that everty month. besides computers are often slow, and you can not find what you want locally any faster than picking up a book and flipping pages.
11 comments:
It just isn't going to happen, see http://blog.aqute.com/aquteresearch/2005/09/google_buying_y.html.
The Yellow Pages is a dying biz, too one dimensional.
I'm not saying they WILL buy YP, just that it would be a great fit.
Bring the YP out of the stone ages and let them tap their true potential digitally.
I mean think about it, the YP is 6 inch thick book filled with information that becomes outdated the day it's printed. YOU SHOULD be able to get this info by using Google.
You do agree that it would be a great fit.
You are right that it is a great fit, classifieds is core to Google. I just think Yell is too strong. Although I also agree that the Yellow Pages model is out of date, they are still cash cows.
As a rep for Yellow Pages I can tell you that the book is still growing on usage and customers year on year. Each rep is targeted to grow Yellow Pages by selling colour, larger areas & yell.com and they do it with ease! I would definitely say that Google would be on to a winner by buying the group although I doubt that they would have the funds at this stage.
They might not have the funds today but...
Doesn't it seem outdated to use a 10 lb book for information, when there's so much than just phone number and address with the Internet?
What ideas do you see that will allow YP to relevant if Google ever masters this?
Yellow Pages is a highly used dying medium. The true power of a merger like this is content. The yellow page companies have the richest content and the vehicle to collect the content. The national sales forces in the UK and the US would drive sales and collect content. A sales force this large could do amazing things with a product as strong as Google.
Yellow Pages also has the US market with Yellow Book in 45 states and their whole sales force that have relationships with LOCAL businesses and local content. If they could swing it it would be huge for all sides and for the users.
I want a service on my mobile that when I SMS or do a WAP search it gives me relevant results based on my location and what my local yellow pages offers.
There is a big disconnect between local search and what my Yellow Pages shows..
Make the YP mobile and quick and you have true mobile search.
Yellow Book print advertising is not seeing a drop in usage like many think. We have done competitive metered ads in markets. We put a remote call forwarded number in a customers ad(s) that only appears in our book. We have done this with several advertisers over the years, and call volumes remain the same each year. The statement that it's a dying industry is a bunch of boloney. It's false perception. Also, the Wall Street Journal did an extensive study that found 61% of all Americans use the Yellow Pages to find LOCAL info quickly and another 7% use and IYP. So the YP industry owns nearly 70% of all local searches. Google would love our info, but they can't afford it. Info is king, and Yellow Book has he most LOCAL info of all YP companies, and they aren't going to give it up any time soon.
To add further comment on June 23, 2007's posting... comparing Yellow Page searches vs. Internet searches, the Yellow Page industry currently has 13 billion searches (nationally) whereas Internet searches amount to 1 billion and change (nationally). What I find interesting is that the Internet searches that were included in the 1 billion were searches like "who was the president in 1928". Yes, Yellow Pages has been around for over 100 years, but it is the oldest, effective and efficient search engine for local businesses. For example, if I were to look for a plumber (i.e. "plumbers, los angeles, ca") on google or yahoo, I would get a list of plumbers from all over the place (most might not live in my neighborhood). However, if I were to look for a plumber in the Yellow Book or any other Yellow Page directory pertaining to my area, it would be easier to find a LOCAL plumber. Keyword LOCAL. Regardless of perception the yellow page industry has, it is still a great tool for finding LOCAL businesses. Lastly, Yellow BOOK is the ultimate in yellow page directories because of it's user friendly features like the coverage area map, restaurant section, coupon section, etc... ok. I'll stop. I'm sounding like a commercial (hehe).
I sell for a national yellow page directory and I can tell you the perception is that is is a dying medium, but the reality is that usage is still strong. and the value for your dollar is excellent. we use metered numbers to prove results and the roi is not attainable with any other form of local advertising. many campaigns make back the yearly investment with one or two customers. the ads bring more than that everty month. besides computers are often slow, and you can not find what you want locally any faster than picking up a book and flipping pages.
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