From: ahk@chinet.com   
      
   David Samuel Barr  wrote:   
      
   >>. . .   
      
   >Unless the business model has changed in   
   >recent years the Yellow Pages were always   
   >an advertising medium, not a reference   
   >directory; businesses had to pay to be   
   >listed, with the majority also buying the   
   >display ads which were the bulk of the   
   >space of the book.   
      
   Not correct. Every business subscriber of the incumbent phone company got   
   a free listing per main telephone number at each location. He could request   
   a classification or it would be assigned. The Yellow Pages were contracted   
   to specific phone companies and telephone geography. If a business wanted   
   to be listed not a subscriber to that telephone company and/or outside   
   the geographical area, it had to be set up in the list provided to the   
   Yellow Pages advertising bureau. Typically this required payment of   
   foreign listing fee and the business would also appear in the white pages.   
      
   The majority of business subscribers did not buy display ads as they   
   were hideously expensive. In-column ads were cheaper, but even minimal   
   advertising like use of bold print cost hundreds of dollars a year.   
      
   There were of course business with nationwide advertising accounts that   
   placed listings in telephone directories throughout the country.   
      
   >It didn't matter which phone service the company used (and of course   
   >for most of the past that wasn't even an issue).   
      
   Yes, it did. If the directory publisher wasn't contracted to display   
   listings of both white and yellow pages with a specific telephone   
   company, the desired listing could be accomodated only as a foreign   
   listing. In most states, there had been state laws imposed on incumbent   
   telephone companies and sometimes cable telephony requiring distribution   
   of phone directories. These laws did not apply to VoIP and these numbers   
   are generally not included for free.   
      
   When there were alternate directory publishers, the listings they   
   included were under their own rules and not subject to state law.   
      
   >. . .   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)