Sensis, White & Yellow Pages - still dying

/

Spotted this afternoon, an interesting post at Technology Spectator.

Fifteen years ago Sensis, the directories arm of Telstra, was untouchable. A listing in the Yellow and White Pages was essential for every business and Sensis’ monopoly was a true river of gold.

Sensis’ launch this week of an Australian partnership with the US based review site Yelp is Telstra’s desperate throw of the dice to survive in a market where its directories business has become irrelevant. ... The phone directory business model is a product of the 1920s and in many ways Telstra and the other Yellow Pages franchisees around the world should be greatful it has lasted so long.

Technology Spectator considers how much partnership with Yelp may help Sensis and comes to a conclusion of "not very much".

Here at CCM our advice has been, for many years, that a dollar spent on listing in Yellow and White Pages is a dollar wasted. Spend that dollar on improving your own website! Your company website is your home on the Internet. That's the #1 online location where you can form and cement relationships with potential customers, tell your own story, and market your products and services.

Directory advertising in White and Yellow Pages

/

In November last year Marketing Magazine Australia published an article entitled "The death of print: the final days of the phone book" observing that the White and Yellow Pages directories published by Sensis"look likely to go with way of the rotary dial phone" and that "Sensis needs to prepare for the inevitable". We're not advocates for spending money on advertising in the White and Yellow Pages. When we asked around the office "when was the last time you looked in an actual White or Yellow Pages?" the response in every instance was a variation of "so long ago that I can't remember".

Read More