Great article. Thank you for providing an accurate depiction of the yellow pages.

Truth be told, I work for SuperMedia – - we are an advertising agency for small to medium sized businesses. We publish the Verizon Yellow Pages, are home to Superpages.com and develop/distributee SuperPagesDirect direct mail products.

Our media consultants develop marketing campaigns that fit each client best – - could be to advertise on Superpages.com, our SuperpagesDirect Direct Mail products and when it is appropriate, our yellow pages.

As Barry states, there is a need for a yellow pages. Unfortunately, for years the YP industry was focused on defending their product instead of differentiating it.

Last year we introduced the SuperGuarantee (www.superguarantee.com) program available in all our products. When a consumer hires a painter, auto mechanic, contractor, plumber or other service provider that is part of our program, we will stand by the work. If there is a problem, we will step in and help make it right. If we can’t, we will cut a check for up to $500 to the consumer. The program is free to both the consumer and eligible clients. Since the launch of this program we have seen double digit increases in the possession and usage of many of our directories — increases that we haven’t seen in years.

Again, great post.

Andrew Shane