Yellowbook
In the US, the Yell Group operates as Yellowbook. Yellowbook was founded in 1930, when local community directories were published on Long Island by the then Merchants Advertising Service Inc. In 1949, the company became known as Yellowbook.It developed slowly and underwent several changes of ownership until the late 1990's. Following its acquisition by Yell in August 1999, further acquisition activity has reinforced Yellowbook’s position as the largest independent yellow pages publisher in the US. By the end of the financial year 2007 we published 969 directories with a total circulation of around 123 million in 47 states, plus the District of Columbia.
Yellowbook advertising is also available online through the company’s website at www.yellowbook.com. Businesses can advertise with templated ads, banner ads or ads mirroring their ads in Yellowbook print directories.
Yellowbook employs about 8,100 people nationwide.
US Growth Story
Yell entered the US market through the acquisition of Yellowbook - the oldest and largest US independent - in 1999. At that time Yellowbook operated principally in the eastern states. Since then, we have continued to expand our operations in the east through the acquisition of small, complementary directory companies and the launch of new directories.
In April 2002, we expanded our US operations into the mid-west and Rocky Mountains through the acquisition of McLeodUSA Media Group. In December 2002, we expanded still further when we bought the California-based National Directory Company for $69 million, giving us a presence in new territories on the US West Coast, in New Mexico and in Arizona, and increasing our opportunities for further organic growth. In March 2004, we purchased Feist Publications Inc, expanding our platform in Oklahoma and Kansas and extending it into Texas for the first time.
In July 2005 we completed the acquisition of TransWestern Holdings L.P. for $1,575 million.
We have successfully integrated our acquisitions into our Yellowbook operations and we are benefiting from common operating systems and the economies of scale presented by our position as the largest independent directory publisher.
