Yellow Book CEO Calls on Yellow Pages Industry to Drop Custom Research and Adopt Nationwide Syndicated Research
UNIONDALE, NY (November 1, 2004) - "The time has come for every yellow pages publisher to drop the use of custom proprietary research," said Joe Walsh, CEO of Yellow Book USA. He went on to say, "Yellow pages publishers can no longer have it both ways. They simply cannot say they support transparent, syndicated research while continuing to fund custom proprietary research. Every dollar spent by a yellow pages publisher on custom proprietary research is a dollar denied the industry effort to measure usage transparently."
Last month Judge Jack Weinstein wrote an opinion that criticized custom, proprietary research. Proprietary research is typically funded and used by a single party, in contrast to syndicated research, which is funded by and available to multiple parties.
"These surveys - so called proprietary surveys - are somewhat controlled by the publisher that pays for them," said Judge Weinstein. He went on to say, "The use of publisher-controlled surveys and the lack of standard survey definitions and methodology means that possession and usage figures are susceptible to manipulation and misrepresentation by directory publishers for their own advantage." Details about the Verizon vs. Yellow Book case and Judge Weinstein's ruling are available at www.yellowbookfacts.com.
Judge Weinstein's opinion also called for the creation of an industry-wide reliable and transparent usage standard. "The yellow pages industry requires, if it wishes to remain a healthy competitor with other advertising media, a reliable industry-wide survey procedure which can produce believable comparative and actual usage figures for potential advertisers. The evidence showed that it is entirely practicable to provide such reliable information and that the industry is in a position to adopt such a system. Such a voluntary national system would do more for truth in advertising, protection of the consumer, and the economic health of the industry than any injunction or damages in this litigation," said Judge Weinstein.
"A respected judge has spoken. Let's follow his recommendation," said Mr. Walsh. He went on to say, "The newspaper industry has the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the television industry has Nielsen, and radio has Arbitron. Why shouldn't the yellow pages have an equally fair, non-partial, third-party research standard?"
Yellow Book views the Syndicated Research Project that is scheduled to launch in January as lacking in scope. As it is currently conceived the Syndicated Research Project will only survey 59 of the 207 Designated Metropolitan Areas (DMAs) in the continental United States. Each market will take twelve months to complete.
"We need a truly comprehensive syndicated research survey of all DMAs, not tests in less than a third of the DMAs. Yellow Book recognizes that this will be an expensive undertaking and is willing to pay its fair share to study every DMA in the lower-48. I believe funds for comprehensive syndicated studies exist - if publishers devote their research budgets to syndicated. Doing proprietary cannot be an excuse for not funding syndicated. As an industry we need to do this for our national advertisers and the certified marketing representatives who buy our directories. We urge all yellow pages publishers to join us and lead our industry to the next level," said Walsh.
Established in 1930, Yellow Book USA is the oldest and largest independent yellow pages publisher in the nation. In recent years, Yellow Book has made a number of strategic acquisitions and entered scores of new markets. Yellow Book now publishes over 500 directories in 42 states, plus the District of Columbia with a distribution of over 72 million.
For details about the lawsuit, visit www.yellowbookfacts.com
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