paybacksa - 1:09 am on Dec 22, 2004 (gmt 0)

I can offer a case study witnessed today.

Client started new business 1 year ago. Yellow Page ad was $850/month (1/4 page display ad) with a 1 year contract. Client considered it a "must have" -- it was the first contract the new business signed.

It is now time for YP renewal and client said "no thanks". Owner says customers have consistently shown knowledge of the business that could only come from the website content. Ongoing customer query "how did you find us" showed the owner that the YP produced only 3 or 4 customers per month, out of an average of about 70 new customers per month.

Best part of the story: the YP rep then dropped the renewal price to $3000 for the full year (a 70% discount?). Of course the owner said yes.

This is hitting the print YP's very hard and very fast. As business owners learn they are in a buyer's market they will take advantage. Local Search won't be about displacing the YP for that $850/month ad spend for long, but perhaps we are re-entering a market ripe for selling new opportunities to these business owners. They are not risk averse individuals, and perhaps they will feel they have some cash to invest in new ideas.