Yellow Pages

The term Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, categorized according to the product or service provided. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings. The traditional term Yellow Pages is now also applied to online directories of businesses.

To avoid the increasing cost of yellow paper, the yellow background of the pages is currently printed on white paper using ink. Yellow paper is no longer used.

The name and concept of "Yellow Pages" came about in 1883, when a printer in Cheyenne, Wyoming working on a regular telephone directory ran out of white paper and used yellow paper instead. In 1886 Reuben H. Donnelley created the first official yellow pages directory, inventing an industry.

Today, the expression Yellow Pages is used globally, in both English-speaking and non-English speaking countries. In the United States, it refers to the category, while in some other countries it is a registered name and therefore a proper noun.

Internet Yellow Pages

Online Yellow Pages are known as IYP or Internet Yellow Pages. On a broader scale they are known as vertical directories. There are consumer oriented and business oriented varieties. All providers of IYP offer online advertising. IYP's have largely formed as a result of yellow pages publishers needing to replace rapidly declining print revenue by chasing the migration of shoppers toward web-based information.

IYP offers listings differently than standard search engines. Where search engines return results based on relevancy to the true search term, IYP returns results based on a geographic area.

Studies by independent companies such as Nielson and comScore have shown that Internet Yellow Pages have a very slim percentage of total Internet searches. The majority, over 85% of all Internet searches, occur on the major search engines Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Advertising on IYP is typically available with numerous a la carte choices. These choices become small "individual sales presentations" which makes it easier for sales reps to sell large advertising packages.

A newer version of IYPs are classified as local search directories which provide similar content with the added ability for customer reviews and comments for a listed business. The user advantage is that local search is not dominated by high paying corporate advertising. All services offer paid advertising options which typically offer preferred placement on search results pages.