BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Real Yellow Pages from BellSouth, recognized as the leading yellow pages directory in the Southeast, is the most used yellow pages directory in Birmingham, Alabama according to a yellow pages industry research initiative released by the Yellow Pages Market Reporter (YPMR). YPMR, a syndicated industry market measurement tool, is produced by Knowledge Networks/SRI, a national research firm.
For BellSouth's Birmingham market, results show The Real Yellow Pages with a 2 to 1 lead over its nearest competitor. These results indicate close to 7 out of 10 yellow pages references in Birmingham are to The Real Yellow Pages from BellSouth and The Real Yellow Pages Companion directory.
"These results support our internal data showing The Real Yellow Pages as the leading and most used directory in the Birmingham market. Consumers do have a choice in Birmingham and they have selected BellSouth when it comes to finding area businesses and services," said Ike Harris, President of BellSouth Advertising & Publishing.
Harris pointed out that three areas were researched for the Birmingham study: the BellSouth area; its nearest competitor's area; and an overlap of both areas. In all three areas, BellSouth held a commanding lead.
The YPMR tool is used to identify usage of the core print yellow pages directory in the Birmingham market. While the report provides a usage measure of the print directory, it does not factor in the growing usage of BellSouth's industry-leading Internet Yellow Pages, YELLOWPAGES.COM, or the out of home usage of the growing specialty Companion directory the company distributes in Birmingham and other markets.
"We look forward to future research that provides a measure of all yellow pages products being used by consumers including print, Internet and specialty directories. We can no longer rest on just our leading core directory, because consumers are letting their 'fingers do the walking' in a variety of ways to find area businesses and services," Harris added. "BellSouth offers the region's leading yellow pages directory, but we also provide businesses with ads and listings in our growing Companion directories, as well as the number one Internet Yellow Pages."
In addition to The Real Yellow Pages core and Companion print references, YELLOWPAGES.COM anticipates approximately 1 billion references to its industry-leading Internet Yellow Pages network. Bringing the print and Internet together the way BellSouth does offers businesses unsurpassed advertising value, and the best way for buyers and sellers to connect.
The syndicated research was a combined effort of publishers, national advertisers, certified marketing representatives and associations including: American Association of Advertising Agencies; Association of Directory Marketing; Associate of Directory Publishers; Association of National Advertisers; and the Yellow Pages Association. The group selected Knowledge Networks/SRI due to their expertise in collecting yellow pages usage data.
About BellSouth Advertising and Publishing
BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Corporation (BAPCO) is the leading provider of print and Internet Yellow Pages products in the southeast. BAPCO publishes 68 million copies of the print Yellow Pages in more than 500 editions in the nine-state BellSouth region. Users referred to The Real Yellow Pages(R) from BellSouth nearly 2 billion times in 2004 and approximately 90 million monthly searches on the YELLOWPAGES.COM network (http://www.yellowpages.com/). The Real Yellow Pages is a powerful information resource, linking buyers and sellers, with approximately 85 percent of consumers who reference the directories' most frequently used headings making a purchase based on their findings.
