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Tax accountant, graduate degree, spends 10-14 hours per day on the Internet doing various work. Knows advanced Google boolean commands.
She still goes to the offline yellow pages book first to find what she needs locally.
Do you still use the yellow pages? Why?
I agree most people dont think internet when they seek a local service ...The main reason i think is the lack of awarness among the general public than any behavioural or demographic reasons .
1) Larger selection. Try finding a chinese restaurant on Google. No one using PPC and a majority of the results pointing to IYPs (which brings me to #2).
2) No one advertising in the IYPs. Outside of some very competitive industries, it's just a plain old alphabetical list of local chinese restaurants. With 153 in Chicago, this doesn't make it very easy.
3) I feel more comfortable doing business with a place that is advertising. I know they are in business and it gives me a sense that they are legit. How many times have you ordered pizza from the Yellow Pages and picked the place with the half page ad and coupons? I've rarely picked some random, small listing out of the Yellow Pages.
4) Results are poor and outdated. Most IYPs and "local search" information looks like 5 year old backfill. I would say that more people trust the paper yellow pages over the online version.
To sum up my thoughts, I just don't think people are completely comfortable with specific industries online. If I needed a chiropractor, I'd look online. If I need to order Chinese food, I'm opening up the Yellow Pages.
When IYPs and local search properties take their results as serious as the paper Yellow Pages do, people will do the same.
Nope. Been yellowpageless for years. I actually throw it out when they leave it on my porch. It's easier to look it up online. Even before the boom of local search - it was easier to find it via a search engine or corporate website.
>>>Why don't you use them? [G/Y]
Frankly, Google local sucks. I do use Y local. They have a darn good local search engine, speaking strictly as a consumer looking for things.
>>>The Yellow Pages I pick up is already much smarter out of the box
Can't really agree here. At least not compared to the local engines popping up in 2004/2005. For my daughter's birthday party last year, we wanted a moonbounce. Obviously, the YP didn't have a listing for that (I was using the online version of a mega YP producer). It took me a half hour to figure out that it was listed under party rentals.
The engines coming out right now - I can type in moonbounce and it shows me party rental places that offer them. The local search providers that are going to shine are going to be the ones that become "smart" phone books. As a consumer, I want to see a listing for what I am looking for. Not spend time figuring out how what I want is categorized to find it.
Granted, some things are easy to find via YP, of course, but for me, it its way easier to use an engine.
Thus I'd assume there's ZERO spam in the Yellow Pages, and dead-on relevancy.
When I want very specific info, and I already know a piece of the puzzle, I find the Web works well. For example, I know the store name but want the address or phone number fast. Do a search on Y (better than G most of time I find, for this sort of thing). Or, if it's a big store or established retailer, I'll go right to their site and look for store locator. I found a great local beer joint the other day, because I knew the street it was on, the city, and the fact that the place is big on beer. Boom, up it came number one in the SERP's, with a simple five word search.
The Web's problem comes more to the fore when I'm only generally aware of what I want.
Recently I moved to the SF east bay area (formerly long time resident of NYC). Didn't know where anything was, and still don't. Needed a cabinet maker for the new place. The Web was a disaster. A bunch of me-too, poor quality YP sites, surrounding too little useful info, with too many ads/links for other 'related stuff.' Felt like I was in one 'o them link farms, almost.
In those cases, the YP book just works better. It provides a good, useful laundry list of options. And in the printed book, the big display ads tend to focus one's attention on the better providers. You get ease of use, confidence from perceived authority, and time savings.
Give me a local search engine that can really offer a good, reliable list of local providers based on generic category searches, and from that day on, in my world, the YP book goes next to the firewood. (Add in user reviews like Amaz*n does...even better...'cause then I'll know who the locals think make the best cabinets).
But the basic listings have to be there first, and not overwhelmed by surrounding promotional gunk. Clean is good, as G taught everyone.
My mom:
Tax accountant, graduate degree, spends 10-14 hours per day on the Internet doing various work. Knows advanced Google boolean commands.She still goes to the offline yellow pages book first to find what she needs locally.
Do you still use the yellow pages? Why?
I'm probably as old as your mother, I'm a researcher, a grand father, I publish a web site, and I use the yellow pages. Why? Because it's so much quicker and more reliable than the Internet. Similarly, I do my research in printed materials, almost never on the Internet - too much disinformation and unregulated, unaccountable material.
Matt
The book sitting under the phone or on the shelf is much quicker than booting up the computer - connecting to aol - - punching in keys using all index fingers. Then writing those numbers down so you can disconnect (so you can make the call) and shutting down the computer.
My parents would have to do this. Even most of my friends would go through this excruciating dance and many have broadband.
Can't underestimate those people on the tail or even on top of the bell curve.
As for the rest of the savvy I think you're seeing a lot of people using local in some way...sure seems like it in my log files at least.
they'll come around as tech catches up to them and as results and ease of use continues to surpass the old way.
ps..I'm w/ rae...I use yahoo local pretty extensively, but it's the only one.
Take one of the Uk's leading IYPs:
If I search for "Volkswagen dealer, myTown" they map Volkswagen to the general category "cars" so I have to sift through all the Honda, Mazda *and* VW dealers.
If they don't find a dealer in my town I can only expand the search to the county my town is in - what if I'm on the border of 3 counties? There's a good chance I'll miss the nearest dealer.
Full keyword search on adverts and radius searching solve these hassles.
Very good point hooloovoo22 and some important "clarification". As I was reading this thread and saw people saying the YP were quicker, I was highly confused. Funny thing is, it never once occured to me that not everyone has their computer booted 24/7/365 and with a permanent cable connection ;). I really need to get out once in a while LOL.
Yellow Pages trace changes in society [miami.com]
Considering where I sit most of the day, online local search is closer than my phonebook and should be more useful, but it's not.
Virtually every time I've compared the Yellow Pages with online local, I've found the Yellow Pages to be many times more complete. That's really the basis for my choice... everything else is secondary. Generally, local search doesn't have enough data... and, as others have said here, it's often not fresh and not always geographically apt.
And the annoying fine print of the printed Yellow Pages also has an upside... which is density. I can look at hundreds of listings at a glance... not have to scroll or click through pages of them. Online, numbered pages for alphabetical listings can be extremely frustrating to use.
For browsing, assuming a complete set of fresh listings, it would be nice to have a compact one-line display mode of alphabetical listings... and, on something like restaurants, maybe even an alphabetized expandable outline view for browsing restaurants by ethnicity, neighborhood, whatever, that would then expand according to user selection.
Online local should be a lot easier to use than the big paper book for the same tasks. Where I'd be phoning, I would love to have a phone dialer built into the web page. I'd love to be able to copy contact info onto the clipboard, or, better than that, into a standard xml address book format, with just one click.
Whoever thinks YP Book is going to be obsolete in 3-6-20-month is smoking dope. There are many - let me repeat - MANY - compelling reasons why a regular Joe will pick up a book:
1. because there is no computer around
2. because (s)he's in the car (on the road, etc.)
3. any construction worker, a store owner/employee, etc. will choose a book
4. because you DON'T WANT to turn computer on. I sit numerous hours a day in front of the monitor, last thing I want to do is turn it on on the weekend.
5. because search engines return nothing or spam for certain searches
6. must I repeat "because there is no computer around"?
* There will be a new book out, in local search format.
* Cellphone will not become a main source for information. It is incapable - too small of a device.
* Book will not go away, as radio didn't when they invented TV. How many flying cars you own? Technology doesn't converge it diverges (applies to cellphone argument).
* How many ads can you fit on a 6-inch screen? Maybe one. How many alternative businesses can I see on that? Maybe 3. How are those companies who you suggest are "going to drop electronic directories at your doorstep" will make money?
* Electronic direcotry may well work in geek parts of Silicone Valley, but think about Ohio and West Virginia....
There are many - let me repeat - MANY - compelling reasons why a regular Joe will pick up a book:
I think you may be ignoring an important peice of this puzzle: it isn't whether or not Joe will pick up a book that will ultimately decide the fate of the print YPs, but whether or not expecting him to pick up a book will be more profitable than expecting him to log onto his computer. Granted, Joe's habits will play heavily into deciding which is more profitable, but his preference is important (to this decision) only insofar as it guides the action he takes.
If they stopped delivering the YP to Joe's door step, what would he do if he wanted to find a local plumber? More than likely, he'd log onto an IYP or a LS and run his local search for plumbers. What he wouldn't do is decide not to hire a plumber because he isn't allowed to look for one in the phonebook. So, again, I think the decision-maker here is going to be which form of providing local business listing is more profitable for the lister.
That said, I agree it's unlikely that the hard copy YP is going away anytime soon. As long as advertisers (read, local businesses) are willing to pay for a YP listing, the YP will offer listings for sale. It is only when producing the hardcopy YP becomes unprofitable that it will fade to black.
cEM
[edited by: Chicago at 7:29 pm (utc) on April 14, 2005]
[edit reason] Promotional posts are prohibited [/edit]
I run an online regional directory with an industry theme, so I am paying special attention to local search from search engines, since they could represent significant threats to my business. My business is like an online yellow pages and overcomes the problem that the search engines have with local search, namely giving back irrelevant results.
I rely on the printed yellow pages for many local searches because of the relevance issue, but I'm seeing the search engines getting better at local search. It's just a matter of time before they get it right.
My local yellow pages has a website, but it has far fewer listings than their printed version. If they had more sense they'd make it easy for web surfers to get at content identical to or close to the printed version. They seem to be short-sighted in their focus on fast profits by charging extra for online listings, rather than realizing that if they put the good stuff online at no extra charge to businesses, long-term benefits for them would be excellent. Giving stuff away seems very counter to their mentality, which is a good thing for my own directory.
I ran into this when drawing maps (I make a lot of my own). The location names just aren't as readable as a printed map.
It seems virtually impossible to get as much easily-readable information on a standard? 17" non-scrolled screen as on a printed page.
And last Tuesday we switched to a version of our database that presents results "latest" first. By "latest", we mean the listings that either have been updated by the business or reviewed by somebody.
We figure that this is the best information that we can give a user. If the business talks about themselves or the customers talk about their experience or ideally both, well, that's a lot better than just another yellow pages listing.
And it's not at all bad for the business. If you're a Miami vet, just by editing your record you'll pop to #1 on the Miami vets page with a link to your home page. Same for Austin attorneys, Dayton dentists, etc.
If people want to have a different sort, our alternative sort is by distance. You can personalize "distance from me" by registering and using an address or by using a zip or a zip+4.
Of course, this is very interesting stuff to me and I'd love to talk about why we made some of the decisions we did. But I'm new here. Our website is in my profile.
Jim
