Speaking Sensis

You may have heard of TrueLocal. In their words, they are an online business directory. As such, they compete directly with Yellow Pages® for the advertising dollar of local businesses.

So it’s not surprising to see them attack the value of the Yellow Pages® Book, which is used by millions of Australian buyers and sellers, in order to hopefully pick up some extra business for themselves.

For a business that has been in the market for a number of years now and has had limited success (Roy Morgan shows truelocal.com.au had an average of 249,000 users a month in the year Oct 08 – Sep 09, compared to 2.5 million a month for yellowpages.com.au),  it’s not surprising to see TrueLocal go on the offensive. They did it in June 2009 with a dedicated website and direct marketing campaign, they’re doing it now and we expect they’ll do it again.

But what is surprising, is that for a business whose parent is News Ltd, and synonymous with print publications, they make claims such as:

Gone are the days when these delivered directories were the only way to find a plumber, accountant or doctor. Some people still use them, absolutely. And they’re important for those who don’t have internet access. But [Clover] Moore is right in saying that today most Australians find businesses online – in fact 91.4 per cent do, according to a survey done by TrueLocal in conjunction with Coredata last year.

If you’ve looked at one of News Ltd’s 108 free, weekly, advertiser funded local newspapers recently, you might have noticed the classified ad section – where people might look for a plumber, accountant or doctor – is brought to you by TrueLocal.

And these 108 local newspapers are distributed to Australian homes each week– with no known way for people to be able to opt-out.

But what’s even more surprising, is that in the Victorian regional centres of Ballarat, Geelong and Colac, News Ltd and TrueLocal believe print directories are a valuable resource for the local community. So much so that they produce their own and deliver them to homes and businesses.

It seems TrueLocal will tell people anything to get one up on Yellow Pages® and further their own interests.

At Yellow Pages®, we use independent and credible research to demonstrate the value we deliver. You could say this is talking to our strengths or letting our results speak for themselves, rather than focusing on what our competitors are doing.

But sometimes you’ve just got to call a spade a spade and make sure the truth does get in the way of what some might consider a good story.

Yellow Pages® facts

Usage – the Yellow Pages® network (Book, Online and Mobile directories) is searched 13 million times by 4.5 million Australians each week. This includes 8.5 million searches in Yellow Pages® Books ⁱ.  We also give people the choice to request not to receive a book by calling us on 1800 008 292.

Carbon neutral –Yellow Pages® and White Pages® print and online directories have been certified carbon neutral through the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendly™ program. The carbon emissions created through the production of our directory products will be offset through Greenhouse Friendly™ accredited providers and projects in Australia.

Recycling – 96% of directories were recycled (75%) and re-used (21%) last yearⁱⁱ.

ⁱ Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, 14 years and above, last 7 day average, July 2008–June 2009.

ⁱⁱ DBM Consulting, Sensis 2008/2009 Recycling Measurement Program, June 2009].