American Print and Online Yellow Pages Market to Reach US$18.2 Billion by 2012 Forecasts New Study From Heernet Ventures

The American print and online yellow pages market should reach
revenues of US$18.2 billion by 2012, according to a new study from the
media advisory firm, Heernet Ventures. The study forecasts market
growth from an estimated US$16.95 billion in 2007 to US$ 18.21 billion
in 2012. Whilst the local print market will decline by CAGR of -1.5%,
online yellow pages revenues will grow by CAGR of 26.7%.

The last 5 years have seen the directories market deal with 3
major challenges: industry consolidation; the emergence of online
local search and new competitors such as the search engines; and
increased competition for declining print customers between incumbent
and independent publishers. Companies such as R H Donnelley and Yellow
Book have been at the forefront of driving consolidation; the market
now has 4 players with a combined market share of over 80%. New online
entrants such as Yahoo! and Google have captured a substantial share
of the online local search market. Finally, print competition is very
strong, with many markets now served by more than 4 publishers.

The report also assesses the future prospects for the industry
trends, analysing developments in existing areas (print competition
and online search) and emerging trends in areas such as mobile search
and directory assistance services.

Commenting on the new report, Harjinder Singh-Heer, Managing
Director of Heernet Ventures said, "The report provides a
comprehensive strategic and financial assessment of the industry. It
is an essential tool for both companies and investors. We have used
our deep experience of the European and Asian markets to bring a fresh
perspective to developments in the USA and Canada."

The report also contains profiles of 16 leading directory
publishers (including AT&T, Idearc, R H Donnelley, CenturyTel,
DataNational, Frontier Pages, Local Insight Media, Names and Numbers,
Ogden Directories, Phone Directories, The Local Pages, User Friendly
Directories, White Directory Publishers, Yellow Pages Group (Canada),
Yellow Book and ypOne Publishing.

Heernet Ventures is a leading media advisory and research firm
with offices in London and Gurgaon (India). The company advises media
companies (including directory publishers) on strategic and financial
issues. More details on the report and how to order are available at
heernet.com.