Business News

Research Shows Consumer Use of Independent Yellow Pages Strong and Trending Upward

Tuesday 28. October 2008 - The Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) announced today that current data from Directory Share Ratings (DSR) indicates 45 percent of print Yellow Pages users turn to independent directories (those not affiliated with local telephone companies) when looking for local business information.

The DSR findings support previously released research by Knowledge Networks, which showed independent publishers with a 40 percent share of print Yellow Pages usage.

“While two distinct methodologies were utilized by DSR and Knowledge Networks in conducting these research initiatives, the data offer a consistent take-away for independent publishers and for advertisers,” said Larry Angove, ADP President & CEO. “Consumer usage of independent directories is strong, making them an increasingly attractive and smart option for local and national advertisers.”

Additional findings from the DSR and Knowledge Networks research initiatives show a consistent breakdown of national usage by publisher. DSR indicates the top four publishers based on share of national usage are: AT&T Advertising & Publishing (24 percent), Yellowbook (21 percent), Idearc Media (19 percent) and Dex/R.H. Donnelley (11 percent). Similarly, Knowledge Networks indicates the top four publishers based on share of national usage are: AT&T Advertising & Publishing (31 percent), Yellowbook (21 percent), Idearc Media (17 percent) and Dex/R.H. Donnelley (12 percent).

Directory Share Ratings(R) (DSR) provides ratings for nearly 7,500 Yellow Pages directories and competitive usage shares for directories within all residential ZIP Codes in the U.S. Directory Share Ratings are based on a bi-annual Stratified Systematic Random sample of over 15,000 adults. DSR’s purpose is to assist local and national advertisers to optimize their Yellow Pages investment by qualifying and quantifying consumer usage in their market.

The ADP National Yellow Pages study was conducted by Knowledge Networks via a nationally representative U.S. sample of 4,352 persons 18 years old and over using KnowledgePanel(R), the only online consumer panel based on a probability-based sample of the U.S. population that includes offline households. The purpose of this study was to understand print Yellow Pages usage, usage share among publishers, and details of the users. The study was conducted between November 1, 2007 and April 30, 2008.