Thomas Register and sponsor advertising

[Jon_King]

For 15 years I worked for an industry leading plastics company and we relied heavily on the Thomas Register for leads. Through time, and probably because of the popularity and success of the web, the leads from the "green books" began to die.

I know of companies refusing to take the books, even if they are free.

We began the shift to self promotion via our web site and the results far, far out perform the Thomas Register (even forgetting quantity and looking only at closed sales).

Also, the entry of the Thomas Register in to the world of 'web directory' and our participation in it, did not produce well compared to 'green-book-times-past'.

Has the traditional Thomas Register has become a medium with poor ROI compared to SEO?

Do members of Webmaster World use or promote the Thomas Register Online service as part of SEO?

Finally and most importantly,
Where is the Thomas Register going now that they have stepped up Yahoo! and Google sponsor advertising in most major industrial categories?

[rcjordan]

>Where is the Thomas Register going now

Belly-up, IMO.

Another recent thread on the green books [webmasterworld.com].