The yellow pages are an advertisement disguised as a directory. Stacks of unopened phonebooks sit outside. However, critics say that it's not reliable - and that if you opt out, there's a pretty good chance you'll get a phonebook anyway. Now, if you don't use the phonebook, manufacturers have created a system that lets you opt out online. Meanwhile, many states legally require phone companies to deliver the white pages as a public service, though these laws are gradually disappearing over time. So why are phonebooks still regularly delivered to most American households every year? Mainly because companies have fought regulations to phase out the yellow pages out of self-interest - they're packed full of ads, and make these companies money. But for most people, they've become useless - and simply recycling or throwing away the 650,000 tons of phonebooks distributed nationally each year costs municipalities somewhere between $45 and $62 million. Phonebooks were once extremely useful: before the internet, they were the main way we had of looking up phone numbers and addresses of local businesses or acquaintances. You might have also gotten the white pages (listing residential addresses), either as a separate volume or combined as one book.Īnd if you're like 70 percent of Americans, you probably won't even open the phonebook once before the next year's batch arrives.Īround 70 percent of americans don't use phonebooks Last month, you probably got a fat new yellow pages phonebook (listing all the businesses in your area) delivered to your doorstep.
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