Yellow Pages still a thing

CEDAR RAPIDS — Ripping a telephone book in half once was considered a sign of strength.

Not so much anymore.

With so many people switching from landlines to cellphones, the size of a phone book, if you can find one, has shrunk by two-thirds in many areas. And some people born in the early part of this century may have no idea what a printed phone book looks like.

But the publishers of "The Real Yellow Pages" believe the value of their phone books remains strong.

The new directory — touting itself as "The Original Search Engine“ — is published by Thryv Inc., which has its main office in Dallas. Thryv acquired Dex YP, the book's previous publisher.

The company is distributing 36,282 of the directories in the Cedar Rapids metro area and nearby counties.

Instead of finding the books on your porch, many have been mailed. Also, some copies are available at convenience stores and grocery stores, said Paige Blankenship, of Thryv's communications department. People can also request a book by calling 1-(844) 339-6334.

Thryv's research found 33 percent of baby boomers and seniors still use phone books in the Cedar Rapids and surrounding area, making it worth distributing new directories, said Lisa Horn, Thryv's regional marketing manager.

"We put books in the hands of people who use them — homeowners age 63-plus with money to spend. We target baby boomers and seniors,“ Horn said. ”They have most of the wealth in the country.“

The Real Yellow Pages for the Cedar Rapids area contains 134 pages of display ads and business phone numbers and 73 pages of home landline numbers. No cellphone numbers are included.

The business numbers listed can be "call-tracked" by the businesses and Thryv to show if customer calls are due to the book’s ads, Blankenship and Horn said.

Also, the directory has been adapted to the computer age. For instance, cellphone users can scan the QR code on the book's front cover giving them access to the directory’s information and ads. The directory also is available online.

But the primary driving force of The Real Yellow Pages is its advertising.

"It's still a billion-dollar business,'' Joe Walsh, Thryv's CEO said on a recent television interview. The directories, he said, are aimed at "modernizing small businesses" by offering affordable advertising rates and "giving them more bang for the buck.“

Are the directories being used?

The company said, based on a 2022 independent research study by Localogy, that U.S. consumers referenced the Yellow Pages 3.1 billion times last year.