Decline of Phonebook Statistics?

I got a little curious tonight and decided to look for hard facts, statistics, etc...

As marketers we know that search engines have been trending up for a long time for local searches (while the phone book is on the decline), but I'm not as convinced that local business owner believe this.

I did a few searches in Google to try to find some statistics, but I couldn't find anything. So does anyone know of any data showing the decline of the phone book?

Yes, people do not have as much money to advertise on hard copy anymore in phone books. As far as statistics you would most likely have to pay for them.

During an SEO presentation I was giving Monday, I mentioned the decline in phonebook usage and how mine go from porch delivery to recycling bin. Followed by every head in the room nodding in agreement. That is better proof than any printed statistic. I don't believe any business owner requires more proof than there own decline on ROI.

63lincoln said:

During an SEO presentation I was giving Monday, I mentioned the decline in phonebook usage and how mine go from porch delivery to recycling bin. Followed by every head in the room nodding in agreement. That is better proof than any printed statistic. I don't believe any business owner requires more proof than there own decline on ROI.

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That is along the lines of what I usually say also. I guess that relating to a business owner in that sense is just as good as showing a graph with a sharp decline in phone book use.