Yellowpages.ca is increasing online Yellow Pages™ advertising rates between 10-25% depending on the type of YellowPages.ca™ ad you are purchasing.
The substantial increase in rates further indicates that YPG may have held on to the golden ticket a little too long. In an article I wrote on print Yellow Pages™ advertising last week, I mentioned that YPG had expertly handled the transition from print to online advertising till now, however, I believe that they have underestimated the velocity at which advertisers will move to internet products, like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
Yellowpages.ca (YPG) has managed to hold off the exodus from print for a number of reasons that include their bundling of print and internet products, their feet on the ground in Canada and the fact that we are just too small a market for anyone to care. Otherwise, they would be getting hammered as most major US Yellow Pages™ publishers are right now.
This latest price increase leads me to believe that YPG now understands that when the print takes a hit, it won’t be a 1-2% drop. We will be looking at more serious numbers. The fact that the economy is in the dumpster will only add fuel to the fire.
Then there is the elephant in the room. Google has the band width and determination to develop the killer app that could make Yellow Pages™ advertising an afterthought at any given time. It is not what we know Google is doing, its what we don’t know.
As for the small business owners who are constantly being bombarded with the multitude of options; There may be a learning curve when it comes to search engine marketing but you need to get on board or get run over by their competitors.