# Do you use phone books? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948 "2013-02-21T05:38:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/41 "2013-02-21T17:12:21Z")
I use both the phone books from Telefónica (which are given only to people who have a landline) and the local “shopping guides” such as QDQ - think of them as “the yellow pages published by someone other than Ma Bell and handed out in every house, regardless of whether they have a landline”. The shopping guides tend to be more focused, and often better organized; the categories Telefónica uses have been defined at the national level and categories defined locally can fit local markets better. If I’m looking for a business it will be either the Yellow Pages or the shopping guide: often, a business’ landline will be listed in the White Pages under the name of the business’s owner (which I’m unlikely to know beforehand) rather than under the name of the business. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/42 "2013-02-21T17:17:50Z")
If I’m looking for a business it will be either the Yellow Pages or the shopping guide: often, a business’ landline will be listed in the White Pages under the name of the business’s owner (which I’m unlikely to know beforehand) rather than under the name of the business. Lately I tend to avoid the e-pages, because they’re supposed to be the same as the physical copy but, since businesses have the option to indicate which provinces they “work in”, you can be trying to look up local carpenters in Isaba (Navarra) and get listings from Seville :rolleyes:. Yeah dude, I’m sure you’d be happy to come fit my kitchen 1500km away from your shop - for the price of a car! ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/43 "2013-02-21T17:27:59Z")
At home, I never use the phone book and always use the internet. However, for several years now I have kept a phone book in the car, which I find extremely handy. I am finding-places-challenged, so if I’m looking for a place and I don’t know the exact address, I can easily look it up right then, or get the number and call them without having to go through 411 or whatever on my phone. I suppose if the day ever comes that I have a smartphone, then I will no longer need a phonebook in the car, but until then that thing’s a godsend. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/44 "2013-02-21T19:27:16Z")
They make fantastic parrot enrichment. We have an elderly cockatoo here who, despite being almost deaf and almost blind, can make confetti out of a whole BIG phonebook overnight. Also useful for papier mache and other crafts, since newsprint is becoming rarer. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/45 "2013-02-21T19:32:05Z")
It’s been more than 10 years since I have opened one. I am annoyed that they keep showing up on my doorstep. I figured the only people who use them are people who are too old to know how to use the onlines. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/46 "2013-02-21T19:52:09Z")
I haven’t looked up a number in a phone book in at least 15 years. Parrot enrichment was their primary use for a while, but now I just tape together 3 or 4 and use them as targets in the basement. End to end, my basement is a bit over 100 feet, so we have a small range suitable for BB guns and archery. And other things. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/47 "2013-02-21T21:08:23Z")
I use the phone book only when I don’t know what business I am trying to call specifically; despite being quite computer literate I find that the breadth of businesses in the phone book for certain categories is much larger than what I can find with a google search. IE, I would crack open the yellow pages when looking for a plumber, or a handyman, or a few other similar businesses. Never if I need to look up a number for a person or business I already know the name of. Not usually for restaurants either, those seem to be well represented on google. In practice this results in cracking the yellow pages maybe 1-2 times a year. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/48 "2013-02-21T21:24:29Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Parrot enrichment was their primary use for a while, but now I just tape together 3 or 4 and use them as targets in the basement. Yeah, that’s what my dad used to use them for. He’d teach mom how to shoot the .32 in the basement. Without telling us. That was fun, waking up Saturday morning to hear gunshots from the basement. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/49 "2013-02-21T21:56:24Z")
> [@qualityleashdog](#): > > I DO NOT use my phone books for yellow page ads. I might use the yellow pages to find your number, if I know the name of your company. But I will not go to category: plumbers and dial one based on the ad. Yet, I think a lot of people do just this. I’ve had more than one customer volunteer to me that they called because they liked my YP ad; I assume some others did the same and just didn’t need to tell me about it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/50 "2013-02-21T23:20:18Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Do white pages have mobile numbers in them? In general, no. You can opt to have your mobile number listed, but it appears to be a bit of a pain in the butt. I don’t know anyone who has actually done it. > [@Hampshire](#): > > What type of business do you have? > I’d base my decision on the age group / demographic I’m trying to reach. I have a bookstore and tea bar. It’s the only bookstore in a 60-mile radius, and the only tea bar of its type in at least a 100-mile radius. My demographic trends younger on the tea, older on the books. > [@gwendee](#): > > One factor that is true for my business which may not be true for yours is that my draw is generally from a very small geographic area. 85-90% of my customers live within three miles of my store. My shop is in a small town of 2,300 people, we’ve had the same phone number for 26 years, and we’re in the main four-block downtown shopping area. I can’t imagine a local not being able to find us. The yellow pages are for the nearest big city – Billings, MT, with a population of 100,000 is about an hour away. They have their own bookstores, but I’m pondering whether we’d attract their tea crowd. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/51 "2013-02-21T23:28:23Z")
We have a yellow pages, but I do not think it ever gets opened, even for the pages of coupons in the back of it. It gets stuffed in the junk drawer until the next edition comes along. I am not sure why we do this - habit, I guess. If we ever need a phone number, or address, we just go online. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/52 "2013-02-21T23:31:37Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Even when the computer is on, I’ve found it’s faster to flip thru the book than search for local businesses, many of which don’t have sites. In fact, online searches tend to bring up far too many non-useful hits when I’m looking for something in particular in my county. > > Bottom line, I don’t use it daily, but given a choice, I generally prefer going to the yellow pages than to a search engine. I do find it generally faster and simpler to search through the book than online for local info. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/53 "2013-02-21T23:33:35Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:50, topic:650948”] I have a bookstore and tea bar. [/QUOTE] I think I’d concentrate on Yelp or similar local rating sites, rather than the yellow pages. I’ve never once contemplated looking in the yellow pages for a tea bar. I wouldn’t even know what to look under if I \*wanted \*to find a tea bar in the yellow pages. Restaurants, I guess? Maybe? ETA: Dang, that’s a sweet tea bar! (Google was my friend. You are the only result for the first page, at least, of **bookstore and tea bar montana** ) ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/54 "2013-02-22T00:38:09Z")
I can’t imagine something like a bookstore would be worth paying more than $50/year or so to be in the yellow pages; I suspect they want way more than that. I’d bet the yellow pages get more use for stuff where you need somebody _now_ and you don’t know who - there’s a reason the yellow pages are full of lawyer ads 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/55 "2013-02-22T01:00:56Z")
My wife’s cell, her office phone, my kids’ cells and my mother-in-law’s cell are all speed-dials on my phone. I know the number I have to call if I’m not going to go to work, and I carry it in my wallet just in case I should forget it. I can’t even remember the last time I called a number other than those six… ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/56 "2013-02-22T01:04:12Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > ETA: Dang, that’s a sweet tea bar! (Google was my friend. You are the only result for the first page, at least, of **bookstore and tea bar montana** ) You’re the only result for the first page and almost half of the second. And WhyNot’s post above was the seventh hit… ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/57 "2013-02-22T02:07:54Z")
As the YP buyer for my company, we’ve cut way back, way back. However, we do survey people about their usage. Many still do, specifically to find a business near them without wading thru a gazillion google listing, not when they know the name of the business they want, but rather for a general search for a category near them. We live in a very large, very spread out metro area, and people simply don’t want to leave their near surrounds sometimes. The other reason is for an emergency type situation, when, again, they don’t have time to search Google listings, but want a 24 hour plumber NOW. (We’re not a plumber) Another reason to keep some presence is our g-d competitors. When we do a YP review, we think it’s madness to just not appear in some fashion when our competition insists on remaining the damn book. It’s not a decision you can make in a vacuum. Want a Weezil Driver? And everyone in the book has a 3" ad, and we’re not there at all? Not so good. We’ve reduced them to a single listing with no address (we have 4 locations), but rather a general location (Valleywide) which calls a number that asks which location they prefer. And the last reason? People, many of them, simply don’t know how to do a local search. The other day I asked my BF to find me the # for Chuck’s Auto. He was online at the time. So that’s what he Googled. No city, nothing. There must be a zillion Chuck’s Auto in the world. Until people get to know how to do a local search, we’re in the book. Reduced to a bare minimum, but we’re still there. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/58 "2013-02-22T02:29:11Z")
**Gary** , what kind of ad do you currently have? In which categories are you placing the ad? Does the publisher have other offerings (SEO/SEM, social media, AdWords, etc?) What other advertising/marketing do you do? I would do a no-graphics box ad just to keep your face out front. Sounds like you are in a pretty niche market - not so much that you need to pay for a lot of ad space, but you should at least keep your presence announced. And phone books are more used in small towns than the big city. **Gwendee** would likely benefit from a door hanger campaign. Print and delivery on those can be less than $.25 per household and DH’s (with the right message/offer) are pretty effective, far more so than a direct mail campaign or ValPak. At the very least, with DH’s you’re not competing for initial impression eyeball time with a bunch of other ads. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/59 "2013-02-22T02:39:03Z")
I do use the phone book from time to time, both the yellow and white pages. But not as often as I used to. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948/60 "2013-02-22T15:30:48Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > ETA: Dang, that’s a sweet tea bar! Thank you! I need to get that website updated – we’ve done some improvements and expansions since the pics I posted there. I keep the Facebook page much more up-to-date. > [@SCAdian](#): > > You’re the only result for the first page and almost half of the second. And WhyNot’s post above was the seventh hit… Awesome! > [@JohnT](#): > > **Gary** , what kind of ad do you currently have? In which categories are you placing the ad? Does the publisher have other offerings (SEO/SEM, social media, AdWords, etc?) What other advertising/marketing do you do? We’ve been running an ad under “New Books” and a listing under “Used Books,” and now that the tea bar has taken off (it’s between 1/4 and 1/3 of our income now), I’m trying to decide if/where to list it. The publisher offers listings on the online version of their yellow pages, but I don’t really care. 😉 Right now we use a lot of free advertising/marketing (Facebook, Twitter, industry directories, Constant Contact newsletter…), limited online marketing, a regular segment on a local radio station, articles in local papers when we can get them ([here’s a sweet one](http://billingsgazette.com/business/red-lodge-store-offers-everything-you-need-to-chill-books/article_6a674bd8-1f85-52b3-bcc5-d5136d5a4983.html) that ran a couple of months ago), newspaper ads for special events. It’s a small enough store that I haven’t experimented with television ads. If I can find a videographer that will shoot me some footage fairly cheaply, I plan to set up a YouTube channel with short tea seminars and do a few promo videos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-phone-books/650948.md?page=4)