Yellow page ad sales declining

Looks like it’s not only law firms pulling out of the yellow pages. The Raleigh News & Observer’s David Ranni reports R.H. Donnelley shares fell 12 percent Tuesday upon the announcement of disappointing third-quarter advertising sales for its yellow pages business.

Interesting that no one is quoted in the article about growth or even stability in yellow page book ad sales. It’s online where any ad growth is going to take place.

Signal Hill analyst Maurice McKenzie remained optimistic about the yellow pages business and Donnelley in particular because of steps “…[T]he company has taken, over the past year or so, in terms of strengthening its position online, which we see as a critical growth engine going forward.”

Don’t get me started about having your law firm rely on the yellow page sales people for having an effective online presence. I just can’t see the sales people who tried to earn a commission by getting my old law firm to put green or purple in our yellow page ad as Internet marketing gurus.