Critics call out Cincinnati Yellow Pages deal - San Antonio Business Journal:

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, a Denver company that has ownedf the rights tothe region’s largest Yellow Pages producy since 2002, blames the delay on printefr changes and organizational About 140 of its 900 directories are being delayedd nationwide. Cincinnati is the largest market “It’s a stinking deal,” said Brends Hacker, controller for in Clermonyt County. Hacker was planninb to downsizeher company’s ad in a directoryu she thought would be published in June. When she called the company in May to confirm the she was told it was exercising its contractual right to extenrdlast year’s publication. Hacker said it will cost her compangy anextra $700 each month.
“It’s just not what they’re doing to people,” she said. Local Insight spokeswoman Pat Nichols said 75 percent ofits 10,0090 local customers will be unaffected by the delay. Those are companie that plan to maintain the same ads they had last year or Local Insight CEO Scott Pomeroy is asking business owners angered by the delay to callthe company’es customer service line, (888) 237-8570, althoughu it’s not clear what stepxs the company will take to address concerns. “If the product’xs not delivering value to them, our customer serviced department is prepared to talk tothose folks,” Pomerou said.
“I think it’s evaluated on a case-by-casr basis.” The directory delay comees at a time of turmoil for Yellow Pagezspublishers nationwide. The recession is acceleratinb a trend that has long threatened the industry the shiftof so-called “directional advertising” from prinr publications to online search engines and mobilwe phones. The , a subsidiary of , is projectinyg total revenue will shrinkto $11 billion for Yellow Pageas publishers by 2013, down from $14.34 billion in 2008. A year ago, the Kelseh Group was forecasting a compound annual growth rate for the industrytof 4.5 percent.
Now, it’s minus 5 “The recession has driven printt sodeeply negative,” said Charles senior vice president and progranm director of the Kelsey Report. Laughlin said growtuh in digital revenue might never make up for sales lost inpringt publications. “Those who downsize, will they start spending again once thesmoke clears? It’sw probably next year before we he said. Laughlin said most of the nation’s largestr Yellow Pages markets are seeing revenu e dips of more than 20 percent this Pomeroy declined to reveal numbers for Cincinnatij but said the revenue dropis “nowherw near” 20 percent here.
He said companywide revenued was flatin 2008, standing at roughlhy $700 million. Laughlin declined to reveal Kelsey’s future outlook for Cincinnati, which is dominated by Local Insight but includes a second theYellow Book, publishedf by of Berkshire, England. The industry’s major including spinoff Idearc andthe better-known , are struggling through the recessiobn with heavy debt loads. Locall Insight also has leverage issues, but its focuw on smaller markets has helpedx temper the impact of the recessiohn onthe company, said Emile Courtney, a credir analyst for ’s.
“Idearc has filex for bankruptcy, and Donnelley has missed interesyt payments on debt withvarious entities. Locak Insight has not. From a strict financial-metrics point of they’re the healthier of the Courtney said. S&P revised to “negative” its outlook on Locaol Insight but retaineda “B” rating on its corporatwe debt in a March 31 report. At leastr one of the company’s locao customers has a less positive outlook. “jI think they’re really in trouble.
The phone book is a and nobody’s using it any said Vicky Bezak, exclusive marketing agent for Bezak estimated the directory delay woulrd cost hercompany $300 a month if she pays it. “I’m going to call Cincinnatii Bell and tell them that my contractwith (Local Insight) terminates on June 1, and I’ m not paying the ad costs listed on my currengt bill because I didn’t renea it,” she said. Cincinnati Bell serves as the billing agen t for Local Insight and permits the use of its branxd name as part of a rights agreementf signed when it sold its YelloPages company, , in 2002.
But Cincinnatk Bell is not involved inthe company’sw operations otherwise, according to Lisa a public relations consultant for Bell.