Yellow vs White Pages

Yellow vs White Pages  

Remember the times, especially before the arrival of internet, when a telephone directory used to be of great help to locate people and businesses inside a city? Even today, a telephone directory consists of both white as well as yellow pages that help people to get the names, telephone numbers and the street addresses of other people and businesses. However, many people do not know the real difference between white pages and yellow pages of a telephone directory. This article attempts to highlight these differences.

Yellow Pages

The telephone directory of a city has a large section, usually the second or the last one that is made up of yellow colored pages. These pages contain names, addresses, and telephone numbers of businesses. These are paid listings, which mean that business establishments have to pay an annual fee to get their information printed in these yellow pages. It is common for people to find the numbers of plumbers, electricians, doctors, and other service providers after consulting these yellow pages. You may wonder why some of the businesses are printed in bold and colored fonts whereas some others are given small spaces and small black fonts. This is because there are differential rates for ordinary and attention grabbing content in these yellow pages. The listings are done in an alphabetical order so if you are looking for a plumber, you have to look under this category and then proceed to find alphabetical listings.

These days, because of the number of telephone users and also business establishments going up manifold, separate yellow pages directories can be seen in most cities. These directories are also becoming thicker with added categories and establishments all the time. Despite people making online searches for products and services, the old faithful yellow pages still seem to serve the purpose of generating leads for businesses.

White Pages

Though the growth rate of landline numbers is shrinking compared to mobile numbers in all places, there are still enough of these landline numbers that find a place in the first half of the telephone directory. This is the section that is referred to as white pages in the directory and contains the names and telephones numbers, in addition to the addresses, of people or residents of the city. You can expect the names of individuals in alphabetical order, in white pages, and also their telephone numbers and addresses. With an exponential increase in the use of mobile phones and the ability of these gadgets to store numbers along with names, the reliance on white pages has drastically gone down. The telephone directory that was once the most important item near the landline is now not given the same place of pride and is seen languishing somewhere inside the home.

What is the difference between Yellow and White Pages?

• White pages are seen comprising the first half of a telephone directory while the yellow pages make up the second half. However, this is not the case always, these days, separate yellow pages directories can be seen in most cities.

• White pages contain the names, telephone numbers, and addresses of individuals having landline connections in a city whereas yellow pages contain the names, telephone numbers, and addresses of business establishments and service providers in the city.

• White pages are listings that are free of cost whereas yellow pages have listings that are paid.

• Yellow pages are used when people want to know the numbers of service providers such as plumbers, electricians, masons, welders, and so on.

• Yellow pages advertising is still a potent form of advertising where professionals pay to get their names and numbers listed.