Archive for the ‘Environmental’ Category

Colorado Lawmakers Decide Not to Legislate

Thursday, March 4, 2010

On Wednesday, several Denver media outlets reported that a Colorado legislative committee defeated a proposed bill that would have created laws regarding opt out procedures for Yellow Pages print directories.

A key reason that the legislation was overturned in a bipartisan vote is that Yellow Pages companies – both collectively and individually – have already introduced consumer choice programs aimed at helping consumers manage their print deliveries.

As we told the Denver Post, our industry has no economic incentive to deliver a phone book to someone who doesn’t want one.   That’s why we launched www.YellowPagesOptOut.com to make it easy for consumers to find information about stopping delivery of directories they don’t want.

We’re working on a number of fronts to educate the public about the industry’s efforts.  Generally, when we can have a conversation with a concerned individual about what we’ve done so far and what we are dedicated to doing going forward, we’re able to demonstrate that the industry is working to be responsive to consumers.

One topic that comes up often is how we are impacting the environment – specifically, how many trees are cut down to make directory paper.  One thing that shocks people most is that it is not necessary to use new trees to produce print Yellow Pages.  Directories today are produced from recycled materials (mostly old newspapers and old directories) and byproducts of the lumber industry. Along with recycle fiber, the waste wood chips generated from converting a round tree into square lumber is used to make our paper.

One other important factor that I think many on the Colorado legislative committee considered is the role Yellow Pages companies play in the local economy.

We work directly with nearly three million small business advertisers to help generate local leads for their products and services.  Given the difficultly small businesses face in this difficult environment, it isn’t a good time to legislate one of their best marketing tools.

Plus, Yellow Pages companies themselves are an economic engine by employing thousands of people and paying tax revenue to state and local governments.

I’m hopeful that Colorado’s decision will help increase dialogue about the continued importance of the Yellow Pages industry to communities and all our efforts to be responsive to consumers.

March 4, 2010 | 1 Comment
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Australia’s Sensis Announces Carbon Neutral Certification

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Our Yellow Pages member from the Down Under, Sensis, made a major announcement last week that’s generating headlines in Australia.

In what Sensis describes as a world-first for a major directory publisher, the company’s Yellow Pages and White Pages directories have been certified carbon neutral through the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendly program.

In short, this means that Sensis will offset emissions generated throughout the complete lifecycle of its Yellow Pages and White Pages print and online directories—including their production, use, disposal, and distribution—by taking part in Greenhouse Friendly accredited programs and projects in Australia.

The company will also work to identify and reduce its largest areas of environmental impact. According to Sensis CEO Bruce Akhurst, the company is also hoping to cut its operational greenhouse gas footprint by 5% annually.

Here on the Western Hemisphere, Yellow Pages companies have also introduced various programs and changes to help improve the environmental impact of their directories. Here are just a few:

  • Earlier today, the UK’s Yell Group announced what it’s calling the most significant revamp of its directory in more than 40 years: the introduction of a smaller compact version to replace its traditional larger format.
  • Last year, we announced YellowPagesOptOut.com, a site that helps consumers simply and effectively stop directory delivery or adjust the number of directories they receive. All major publishers have also  introduced their own opt-out programs.
  • SuperMedia and DexOne have launched efforts to put consumer choice and recycling information on the covers of their print directories. They are also sponsoring recycling programs in their local areas.
  • No new trees are necessary to produce Yellow Pages. Publishers use recycled newspapers, telephone books and leftover woodchips from the lumber industry.
  • The basis weight of directory paper has been reduced by 11% over the past five years.
  • Yellow Pages are printed with vegetable-based ink that poses no danger to ground water.

Our members are constantly looking for additional ways to reduce our environmental footprint. Sensis’ announcement is another step in the right direction for our industry.

February 10, 2010 | 2 Comments
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Yellow Pages Association Co-Hosts Industry Environmental Webinar

Friday, September 18, 2009

Yellow Pages Association and the Association of Directory Publishers hosted last week an environmental webinar for members to discuss the importance of local consumer choice programs and the industry’s own yellowpagesoptout.com.

It was great to have so many industry representatives join the discussion. While the number of publishers that participate in consumer choice programs continues to grow, I believe the webinar was especially helpful in answering questions around the need for self-regulation and perceived impacts on advertising.

We know that delivering a directory to someone who doesn’t want one does not make much business sense. Providing people an opportunity to manage delivery is beneficial for both consumers and the environment. And given the dramatic growth in Internet Yellow Pages usage and our other digital tools, a consumer who opts-out of a printed directory still has plenty of access to the local information that we provide.

We’ve seen a number of announcements this year from large Yellow Pages companies announcing consumer choice programs. Idearc recently unveiled its program, which includes printing a toll-free number with opt-out information on all Verizon Yellow Pages’ covers. Idearc is also in the process of developing an online sitelet for consumer choice. Consumers will see a new, clearly marked tab on idearc.com by the end of this year for stopping delivery of printed directories.

In case you missed the webinar, you can view the slides.

September 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
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WhitePages.com CEO: White Pages Opt-In Shouldn’t Apply to Yellow Pages

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

If you’ve been reading the news over the last few days, you’ve seen a good amount of discussion on the future of the residential white pages.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution yesterday covered AT&T’s plan for opt-in residential white pages in parts of Georgia.

That news followed on the heels of a survey from the online residential information provider WhitePages.com that found the majority of consumers embrace opt-in residential white pages programs.

The WhitePages.com survey prompted some people to ask if the same applied to Yellow Pages. WhitePages.com CEO Alex Algard responded quickly with a guest post on Greg Sterling’s blog that clarifies his thinking on the issue.

In his opinion, Algard does not believe Yellow Pages “will or should” embrace opt-in for the following reasons:

  • Yellow Pages are a proven means of local advertising for small businesses across the country.
  • Without access to Yellow Pages, a small business’ ability to attract new customers suffers, thus greatly impacting their ability to generate revenue.
  • Yellow Pages play a useful role for consumers, as there is rich content (sometimes richer than what is available online), the listings are generally up-to-date, and the coverage of listings is generally comprehensive.
  • There is a viable financial model for Yellow Pages that supports an entire industry.

I applaud Algard for clarifying this position on Greg’s blog. Residential white pages and Yellow Pages are fundamentally different tools that serve different purposes. And the reasons for falling usage of residential white pages – namely, the increase in unlisted cell phone numbers and the information storage capabilities of mobile phones and handsets – don’t necessarily translate to Yellow Pages.

That said, we recognize consumer behaviors are changing and the challenges small businesses face are getting tougher.

For our advertisers, we continue to generate one of the best return on investments of any advertising medium and have tools in place to help measure that, such as our metered ad program. Yellow Pages advertising offers businesses more for their money by generating an average sales ROI of 27:1 for national display advertisers and nearly 13:1 for local display advertisers. No other advertising medium can offer this unmatched ROI for display advertising.

To address changing local search preferences, we offer digital and mobile search platforms, in addition to print. We also have launched www.yellowpagesoptout.com to make it easy and effective for consumers to manage the delivery of Yellow Pages to their doorsteps. But even as we’re focusing more than ever on consumer choice, we think it’s important to recognize that the value of print Yellow Pages directories to both businesses and consumers is still very, very high.

August 19, 2009 | 3 Comments
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Yellow Pages Industry Launches Yellowpagesoptout.com

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I hope you saw our news release today in conjunction with the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) announcing our official launch of yellowpagesoptout.com, to help consumers simply and effectively stop directory delivery or adjust the number of directories they receive.

Yellowpagesoptout.com aggregates delivery information for Yellow Pages publishers in one place. Users type in their zip code and receive a list of local publishers with the appropriate steps to stop delivery or adjust the number of directory products they receive. We had a soft launch of the site in January. Since then, we have been making improvements to the interface and further building out the publisher database.

The launch of this site is an important step forward in our effort to meet consumer interest in customizing what gets delivered to their doorsteps. Our research shows that the vast majority of households want to receive at least one print directory – no surprise, since print usage is still strong. With that in mind, a critical objective of yellowpagesoptout.com is to let consumers decide to continue receiving all directory products available in their area, keep some but not others, or stop all directory deliveries.

Over the past year or so, a number of third-party Web sites not affiliated with Yellow Pages or telephone companies have begun offering to add consumers to do not deliver lists on their behalf. We suggest using caution when providing personal information to these Web sites. Consumers should work directly with publishers to stop delivery of print directories, and yellowpagesoptout.com is an easy starting point in that process.

On a related note, we also recently reorganized our environmental Web site. It’s critical that we tell our sustainability story better. There is too much misconception among consumers about how print directories are made. It’s important that people know that directory production is done in a sustainable way and that no trees are cut down for the sole purpose of publishing directories. In addition to our site, Yellow Pages companies also offer on their sites good data on the sustainable production process.

Even with the launch of yellowpagesoptout.com, our work is not done. The site will evolve – we will continue adding publisher information and new features over time. We will also continue to work with publishers to ensure that stop delivery requests are consistently honored. There’s more to do, but I’m very excited by the progress we’re making.

August 13, 2009 | 1 Comment
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Digital YPA ELITE® System Increases Efficiency and Cuts Waste

Monday, July 27, 2009

As some of you may be aware, the Yellow Pages Association owns and operates proprietary industry software called YPA ELITE® that’s used by publishers and Certified Marketing Representatives (CMRs) to facilitate Yellow Pages advertising orders, graphics, and artwork transmittal transactions.   Our partner in hosting and maintaining this software is the B2B e-commerce solutions provider GXS.

As the sole processing system for national orders, YPA ELITE® executes over 6.1 million transactions each year. Just 15 years ago, this was a completely paper process – requiring prints, Veloxes, faxes, mailing and myriad labor-intensive steps to go from sales and design to final ad placements.  But with the help of GXS, we have gradually digitized the transaction process over the years, increasing the efficiency, accuracy and environmental safety of the system. This might sound small, but the migration to a paperless system has really added up.

According to the latest data from GXS, the Yellow Pages Association eliminated 55.39 metric tons of paper usage in 2008 through the YPA ELITE® System.   This translates to a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of the Association.  By migrating to a totally electronic system, the YPA ELITE® system in 2008 succeeding in:

  • Saving 201 tons of wood, or the equivalent of about 1,391 trees.
  • Cutting consumption of 2,292 million BTUs of energy which is the equivalent of the energy used by 25 homes each year.
  • Eliminating 341,141 lbs (170 tons) CO2 equivalent, which is the amount of CO2 emitted by approximately 31 cars yearly.
  • Avoiding the creation of 135,630 pounds of solid waste, the equivalent of 4.85 full garbage trucks.

Partnering with GXS has really paid off in savings and quality.  And this is just one small part of bigger steps the Yellow Pages have taken to reduce the environmental impact of the industry.

July 27, 2009 | 3 Comments
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RH Donnelley Announces Customized Delivery Tool

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Yellow Pages companies are focusing on developing tools that offer individual households the ability to customize the number of print directories they receive.

What’s great about these tools is that they give total control to the consumer. Some consumers want to customize up, and others want to customize down.

Last month, I wrote about Yellow Pages Group’s tool and today RH Donnelley announced a similar service called Select Your Dex for its distribution area.  The news release from RH Donnelley explains it:

To customize print directory orders, consumers can visit DexKnows.com (http://www.dexknows.com), Dex’s popular online local search site, and click on Select Your Dex. From there, they can enter their ZIP code to find out which Dex directories they currently receive and can easily customize their future directory orders. For example, a consumer can choose to receive one copy of the Dex Yellow Pages, no copies of the white pages, and multiple copies of community directories (where available).

According to the news release, The Kelsey Group has given Select Your Dex high marks:

Charles Laughlin, analyst with The Kelsey Group, noted in a recent report that Select Your Dex is “robust” and “easy to use.” He wrote that allowing consumers to “make their selection online rather than going through a two-step process of looking up information and then contacting the publisher” offers a simple way to customize directory deliveries.

It’s great to see Yellow Pages companies offering these options. Our goal should be to give consumers a choice in how they wish to find local information – whether it’s print, online, or mobile. In fact, the Yellow Pages Association has also developed a consumer choice resource at yellowpagesoptout.com, which lists information from all the major publishers in one spot. I wrote about it in January and I outlined some important considerations about working directly with publishers instead of third parties to stop delivery of directories.

July 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment
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Yellow Pages Group Launches Custom Delivery and ecoGuide

Friday, June 19, 2009

Yellow Pages Group (YPG) in Canada made two big announcements this week that I think are worth highlighting for those interested in the industry’s commitment to environmental responsibility.

Custom Delivery Program
Yesterday, YPG announced it is launching a new Custom Delivery Program in which consumers can increase the number of copies of print Yellow Pages directories they want, select which of the directories available in their area they want to receive, or remove their name from the distribution list.

The program can be accessed online or by contacting YPG at 1-800-268-5637.

Yellow Pages ecoGuide
YPG is adding to its print directories a Yellow Pages ecoGuide to help consumers properly dispose of materials and limit the environmental impact of their homes.

YPG found about one-third of Canadians don’t know how to dispose of certain items like electronic devices, personal computers, appliances and tires. Now, information on how to do that can be found in the new Yellow Pages ecoGuide, which YPG developed in collaboration with Earth Day Canada, Équiterre and Green Communities Canada, as well as local municipalities and recycling councils.

The Yellow Pages ecoGuide also offers a number of tips to help consumers reduce their environmental footprint ranging from light bulb usage to heating and cooling advice. According to YPG’s fact sheet, if every household in Toronto followed these 15 tips, it would save:

  • 878 million liters of fuel, saving enough fuel to fill 4 large oil tankers.
  • 1.3 billion kWh of electricity, saving enough electricity to power 8,000 homes for an entire year.
  • 241 million kg of solid waste, saving enough waste to fill nearly 10,000 garbage trucks.
  • 3.5 billion tons of Greenhouse Gases, which is the same as removing 480,000 mid-sized cars from the roads.
  • 28 billion liters of water, saving enough to fill 5,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
  • $528 million.

I hope all of our Canadian directory users take a look at the ecoGuide when it comes out beginning this month.

YPG has a robust environmental program that includes a number of other ongoing initiatives that you can read about too.

June 19, 2009 | 2 Comments
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Choosing Your Yellow Pages Is Easy

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

As Internet Yellow Pages and our search engine partners have rolled out online local search tools, some consumers have asked how they can stop or limit delivery of print Yellow Pages.

It’s easy to choose which directories you receive. Publishers have put opt-out procedures in place to help ensure that we’re only delivering to people who want to receive them.

It’s best to work directly with the publishers serving your local area. We’ve centralized the opt-out contact information for directory publishers on our site at www.yellowpagesoptout.com. Opt-out information is also generally found in the directory itself or by calling the publisher’s customer service number.

There are a few third-party Web sites that claim to take care of opting-out on behalf of consumers. We recommend you avoid using these services for a number of reasons:

  • Unverifiable Information: Most publishers don’t accept opt-out lists from third-party Web sites because the information cannot be verified. Your cable company wouldn’t let a third party cancel your service without some sort of verification, and directory publishers won’t either. There’s no mechanism to stop someone from submitting the names of other people without their permission. The lists frequently even contain fictitious names and addresses.
  • Risk to Personal Information: Submitting information to third-parties poses significant risk. The sites provide no reliable assurance that information will not be sold or used for other purposes. The individuals or organizations operating the Web sites are usually not identified. Consider this before providing any personal information to Web sites.
  • Lack of Choice: The lists don’t differentiate between which directories a consumer might want to opt-out of — it’s all or nothing. So if a consumer wants to receive one directory, but not others, there’s really no choice at all.

We believe most people continue to find the print directory a useful search tool to have nearby, and publishers have outlined a strong commitment to environmental responsibility. But if you choose not to receive a print directory, please protect your personal information by using our Web site www.yellowpagesoptout.com to work directly with the directory publishers.

January 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment
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