There are 540 million directories printed in the United States each year. That’s 1.7 directories per person, assuming just over 300 million people living in the US.  There is not one “yellow pages” company, so it’s many companies printing many books.

The average yellow pages book weighs 3.62 pounds.  Multiply that by the 540 million directories printed each year and you get 2 BILLION pounds of paper.  It takes 24 fully developed trees to make a ton of paper.  So you’re looking at 23 million trees each year being cut down to make these books.

The yellow pages industry is a $26 billion annual business, bigger than Google’s $20 billion in revenues for 2008.  The yellow pages are profitable and are not dying anytime soon.  Most publishers have recycling programs, to quell the environmentalists that protest the waste– but almost none have an opt-out program.

Online advertising programs are cutting into offline revenue.  I don’t believe web advertising would ever fully replace print, TV, radio, magazine, and other forms of media– but it will become a growing share over the next 5-10 years.

What say you?

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other organizations that have many locations. He has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs because of his partnership with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Companies like GoDaddy, Fiverr, onlinejobs.ph, 7 Figure Agency, and Vendasta partner with him to create training and certifications. Dennis created the Dollar a Day Strategy for local service businesses to enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring. He's coaching young adult agency owners who serve plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians in conjunction with leaders in these industries. Mr. Yu believes that there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers need to be certified and licensed. His Content Factory training and dashboards are used by thousands of practitioners.

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