La nueva miniguía de SBC, genera molestia en los clientes

Según la noticia que se referencia a continuación, el nuevo formato de miniguía lanzada por "SBC" en Diciembre orientada a los sectores de mayor poder adquisitivo de San Francisco y ciudades vecinas, ha creado opiniones de rechazo entre anunciadores. Por su parte existe el temor de que los usuarios descarten la guía tradicional en favor de la miniguía. Tal es el precio que está pagando la editora para enfrentar a la competidora independiente "Valley Yellow Pages"


SBC book ticks off advertiser

ORIGINAL:
SanFranciscoChronicle
David Lazarus
Friday, October 14, 2005

Telecom giant SBC says its new "minibook" telephone directory, a pint-size Yellow Pages being issued in some of San Francisco's wealthier neighborhoods in December, will be a boon to both consumers and advertisers.

The minibook will be delivered in select areas alongside SBC's main Yellow Pages and, the company says, will be small enough to carry in the car or keep in a nightstand drawer.

"It's a valuable resource," said John Britton, a company spokesman. "We want to help businesses more effectively reach customers." But for Steve Hess, who runs a San Francisco company called All City Locksmith, the minibook is little more than an attempt by SBC to squeeze extra money out of merchants whose marketing budgets are already stretched painfully thin. Hess said he relies on Yellow Pages ads for 75 percent of his business.
He's advertised in SBC's main Yellow Pages for 26 years. "I basically had to take out an ad in their new book because otherwise people in the richer neighborhoods might not find me," Hess said. "If you're not in a major book, you're shut out from potential customers."

For a spot in the minibook, SBC is charging businesses that already advertise in its main Yellow Pages a bargain-basement price of just 10 percent of the cost of existing ads, capped at $500 a month.

Hess said he couldn't help but notice that the $500 he's being charged for the minibook -- compared with the $6,500 he spends monthly for SBC's main Yellow Pages -- is almost exactly the same amount he spends each month for an ad in Valley Yellow Pages.

Valley Yellow Pages, which distributes 7.5 million copies of its listings throughout Northern and Central California, is SBC's leading directory rival in the region.

"I think the new book is aimed locally at Valley Yellow Pages," Hess said. "I think SBC figures that if they can squeeze another $500 out of people like me, I'll have to drop Valley Yellow Pages."

And more than likely, he acknowledged, SBC is correct. "I can't keep advertising in three books," he said. "Sooner or later, I'll have to decide which one to drop."

This is something very much on the mind of Sieg Fischer, chief exec of Fresno's Valley Yellow Pages. Since learning about SBC's minibook a few weeks ago, he said, he's been speaking with attorneys about a possible lawsuit.

"It's definitely an anti-competitive move," Fisher said. "It's an attempt by SBC to double-dip from existing advertisers to get more revenue into their coffers instead of going to a competitor."

By offering ads in the minibook for just a fraction of prices charged for SBC's main Yellow Pages, he said, the phone company appears to be making a deliberate effort to undercut his business and drive him out of key markets.

"This could sure as hell smack of an antitrust case," Fischer said.

SBC's Britton declined to respond directly to Fischer's allegation. But he acknowledged that the company's minibook is at least partially a response to competition from other directories.

"We appreciate that customers have choices," Britton said. "Of course, we want them to choose us. We think the decision is easy because we have the best books."

He said that aside from San Francisco, minibooks will be distributed in a handful of cities throughout California, including Oakland, Sacramento and certain parts of Orange County.

At Valley Yellow Pages, Fischer cites independent audits commissioned by his firm that show an increasing number of Bay Area households are using his directory instead of SBC's.

Fischer, a former Pacific Bell executive, co-founded Valley Yellow Pages 20 years ago. He now claims about $135 million in annual revenue.

By contrast, SBC says, the hundreds of different directories it publishes nationwide bring in sales of almost $4 billion annually.

"We're the only company that has taken on SBC in California in an aggressive way," Fischer said. "We reach the same markets they do."

The new minibook, he said, will consolidate SBC's position as the dominant directory service in the Bay Area and will make it harder for other companies to compete.

"What's likely is that it will diminish our market share," Fischer said. "That's obviously their goal."

Not at all, replied SBC's Britton. "We're focused on finding new avenues to help advertisers achieve results," he said. "We want to innovate and find new ways to help them find customers."

He added: "We're not focused on verbally attacking competitors."

Hess of All City Locksmith said that when SBC approached him a couple of weeks ago about being in the minibook, he agreed out of fear that some people would discard the main Yellow Pages and keep only the smaller version.

But he made a point of telling the company rep that he was purchasing an additional ad under protest.

"They're basically making me pay them twice," Hess said. "It's ridiculous." David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.