After 33% shrinkage in yellow pages in the yellow book telephone number advertising directory from 2009 to 2010, the 2011 yellow book surprisingly is the same size as the 2010 yellow book. Here are the statistics for 2009-2011 yellow book size comparisons. The 2011 yellow books showed up at my apartment building entryway on December 20, 2010.
Changes in local advertising media have been quite significant in 2010. Perhaps the most astonishing development was Groupon’s unprecedented growth. Groupon is a local special-bargain advertiser and promoter that began operations in November, 2008. It has subsequently rocketed to a reported revenue of $500 million for 2010. Groupon turned down a reported $6 billion buyout offer from Google at the start of December, 2010.[*]
Given the changes in the local advertising market, one might have expected print yellow pages to continue to shrink. Perhaps yellow pages have been deeply discounting advertising rates to retain customers.
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[*] The deal breaker reportedly was regulatory uncertainty associated with anti-trust review. Groupon reportedly wanted a large breakup fee (perhaps $800 million) if regulators rejected the deal.