Verizon: Online Yellow Pages Proliferate, But Print Still Dominates

Online directories will grow rapidly in the next five years, but printed directories will remain the mainstay of the Yellow Pages business for at least that long, according to Kathy Harless, president of Verizon Information Services. Harless is expected to announce those and other projections, plus the release of SuperPages' pay-for-call service, today at a Kelsey Group conference in Denver.

Greg Sterling, an analyst with the Kelsey Group, agreed with Harless. "Print's continued dominance probably goes without saying," Sterling said. "The problem with print is that growth is flat," Sterling added. "But the problem with online is that the price points are so low that it's difficult to generate revenue."

The Kelsey Group estimates that revenue from online will make up about 10 percent of the Yellow Pages industry in 2009--$1.3 billion compared to print's $15.1 billion that year. Those numbers do not include revenue generated from Google's or Yahoo!'s local search services.

Verizon also plans to launch sales for nine more expansion directories by the end of the year, Harless said. Among them are St. Louis, Nashville, Tenn., and Tacoma, Wash.

"Let's put the rumors to rest," said Harless. "We are growing our print footprint, and we are in the expansion business to stay."

Harless is also expected to announce the addition of "Pay For Calls" to SuperPages's pay-for-performance suite, in an attempt to exploit current online growth opportunities.

"Our new programs enable SuperPages.com ... to become a search engine marketer for the many businesses that lack expertise to work with individual search engines on their own," said Harless. "We work with advertisers to place their ads on other major search networks."

Verizon Information Services, a division of Verizon Communications, reports $3.6 billion in revenues from its products--which include Verizon SuperPages Yellow Pages, Verizon SuperPages.com, and the SuperPages On the Go information directory offered through Verizon Wireless Get It Now services, as well as on other wireless carriers.

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