Both directory companies, Dex and Yellowbook have advantages over the other in their markets.

I recommend that advertisers use a mix of ads that give their company fair representation in both directories, even if that means splitting the budget.

Consumers will use whichever directory is in their hands without much thought. If a business is not represented in the directory that the shopper uses, the business loses, and that's not good business.

A mudslinging war like this is ultimately good for advertisers and shoppers, because competition makes us all work harder.

However, the REAL competition is the non-directional advertising vehicles that have much worse return on investment.


: "The Denver Post


Phone books rip each other with ad claims
By Tom McGhee
Denver Post Staff Writer

Sunday, July 04, 2004 -
Arapahoe County-based Dex Media and rival Yellow Book are bludgeoning each other with blunt advertising typically seen in political campaigns.
Dex billboards in the metro area show the Dex directory topped by the word 'official' and a much smaller Yellow Book directory with the word 'superficial.'
And in a local newspaper ad, Yellow Book, which entered the Denver market last year, accused Dex of counting directories twice in reporting a circulation of 2.7 million for the Denver region.
Dex denies the allegation.
It isn't the first time that Yellow Book, a division of United Kingdom-based Yell Group Plc, has riled a competitor. Last year, Dallas-based Verizon Information Services sued the company in New York, charging Yellow Book with making false advertising claims.
Yellow Book's rivals are showing their fear of competition, said Steve Topping, a Yellow Book regional vice president for sales in Denver. 'When you have two utilities that are losing market share, there is going to be a battle.'
The $14 billion phone directory market is brutally competitive, said Christopher Bacey, a spokesman for the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association, a trade group. His organization has 200 members producing everything from directories that serve major population centers to niche publications aimed at ethnic communities.
The directory business was once the dominion of regional Bell companies that owned both a phone network and a directory service. Ten years ago, the Bells accounted for about 96 percent of yellow-pages revenue.
BellSouth, Verizon and SBC all continue to own directory businesses.
In 2000, Qwest acquired"