There’s an important point about social equity here. Opt-in programs would mean immediate relief for millions of annoyed consumers, but still provide easy and free delivery of directories to the small number of people who still want them. According to a Harris Interactive poll conducted in December of 2010, fully 87 percent of adults support “opt-in” programs for White Pages, in which phone customers would automatically no longer receive the directories unless they pro-actively requested one. The white pages companies have even commissioned public opinion research on the subject. (The phone companies’ concern about waste is somewhat ironic given their intransigence on Yellow Pages delivery reform.) I can’t personally vouch for those figures, but based on published numbers for other states, I calculate that reforming Northwest states’ white pages laws could save about 690 tons of paper in Oregon each year, and more than 1,200 tons of paper each year in Washington-nearly the weight of three fully-loaded 747 jumbo jets.įind this article interesting? Support more research like this with a gift! The US industry claims that 5 million trees a year are cut down each year in order to print White Pages directories, and that nationwide in the United States only 22 percent of the books are recycled. I’m not making this up: is actively lobbying to end mandatory delivery law s. While the Yellow Pages generate advertising revenues, the White Pages represent only costs for the firms required to publish and deliver them, eroding the bottom line in an industry that’s already struggling. Surprisingly, it turns out that the directory companies themselves would like to stop automatic delivery, if only the law allowed it. Until we make a very minor modification to existing rules, the White Pages will keep on coming to your front door, like or not. The reason the White Pages land on our front doors isn’t because phone companies want to annoy you it’s because their delivery is required by state law. The White Pages are an altogether different story. Yet neither city’s pushback will affect the delivery of the White Pages. That’s why cities like Seattle and San Francisco have recently passed legislation letting residents opt in or opt out of automatic Yellow Pages deliveries. In the end, the Web will end up with much richer data, and consumers will feel like they can at least control what information is out there about them.What could be more annoying than the dull thud of another unwanted phone book on your doorstep? Printed phone directories are as outdated as, well, rotary phones - and these days they amount to little more than waste for the majority of phone customers. Companies that traffic in personal data on the Web should always let the people described by the data correct it amend it, or hide it if they choose. In the future, WhitePages will allow you to add links to your Facebook, LinkedIn and other social network profiles as well. The crowd-sourced approach is a little like JigSaw for sales contacts, except you are not supposed to edit anyone’s contact information but your own. Since the summer, WhitePages has allowed people to add their own listing, but now they can edit existing listings as well. ![]() (It forwards contact requests via email or text message). WhitePages also lets you hide your contact information and be contacted instead through WhitePages, which acts as a communication proxy on your behalf. For instance, you can correct and update any addresses or phone numbers associated with your name. You can now edit your entry, and control to some extent the information that is shown on the site. One of the largest people directories online, WhitePages, is adding consumer-editing capabilities to make its people database more accurate. ![]() But the listings are not always complete or up to date. When was the last time you actually looked in the phone book to find someone’s number? For anyone under 40, the Web has already replaced the phone book with people search.
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