Elected Officials, Consumer Advocacy Organizations, and Small Businesses Join Local Search Industry in Promoting Yellow Pages

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of local search companies, elected officials, consumer advocacy organizations, and small business owners today announced a new campaign to raise public awareness of the value of print Yellow Pages and programs that allow consumers to control directory delivery.

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The group launched an informational website at www.LocalPaysOffCoalition.org to educate Americans on the role print Yellow Pages play in offering an easy and free source of information for consumers who like shopping locally. The site provides visitors with information on Yellow Pages usage and facts on the industry's sustainability programs. The site also profiles coalition members who support the delivery of print Yellow Pages.

"For more than 125 years, Yellow Pages publishers have provided consumers with reliable and convenient sources of local information that have helped local businesses grow and added vibrancy to offerings available in their neighborhoods," said Wellington Webb, former mayor of Denver and coalition spokesperson. "Tens of millions of Americans of all demographics depend on their local print Yellow Pages to find and connect with local businesses and services. Our efforts to build strong and sustainable communities are dependent on ensuring that businesses can take advantage of proven local media like print Yellow Pages to attract customers."

The coalition recognizes that in today's fragmented media environment, many consumers use print Yellow Pages while others prefer to use digital and mobile solutions offered by Yellow Pages providers to find local businesses. In order to ensure that print directories are not delivered to people who don't want them, the group is advocating that communities support an easy-to-use, industry-sponsored website, www.YellowPagesOptOut.com, where their residents can stop or limit directory delivery to their homes.

"The consumer choice website is a practical, free, and non-legislative solution that communities and city leaders can use to ensure that print directories are only going to citizens who need and want them," said Webb.

The coalition will also raise visibility for print Yellow Pages as a catalyst for encouraging consumers to shopping locally, which adds to the economic prosperity, sustainability, diversity of trusted offerings, and availability of job opportunities in communities.

"Yellow Pages are at the heart of the local shopping experience, which pays off for the entire community," said Neg Norton, president of the Local Search Association, which manages the consumer choice website in collaboration with the Association of Directory Publishers. "I look forward to working with our growing coalition to get the word out about print directories and our consumer choice program. Together, we will demonstrate how business facilitated through print Yellow Pages directly contributes to the health of our cities."

About the Local Search Association

The Local Search Association (www.LocalSearchAssociation.org) is the largest trade organization of print, digital, mobile and social media that help local businesses get found and selected by ready-to-buy consumers.  Association members include U.S. and international directory publishers, search engine marketers, online listings and review sites, digital advertising agencies and mobile search providers. The Association has members in 29 countries.

Read the Local Search Association blog www.LocalSearchInsider.com and follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LocalSearchAssn) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/LocalSearchAssn).  To choose which phone directories you receive or stop delivery, visit www.YellowPagesOptOut.com.

CONTACT:
Sophia Hitti
Fleishman-Hillard
212-453-2159
sophia.hitti@fleishman.com

SOURCE Local Search Association