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{{Short description|Online business search site}}
{{Infobox_Company |
{{Infobox company
company_name = YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC |
| name = YP LLC
company_logo = [[Image:Yellowpages logo2.gif]]|
| logo = File:Yp lgt s rgb pos.jpg
company_type = Subsidiary of [[AT&T]] |
foundation = [[1996]]|
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
location = [[United States|U.S.]]|
| industry = [[Online Advertising]]
| products = Digital Advertising<br>Print Directories<br>[[Web Design]]<br>Listing Management<br>Video Creation<br>Local Search Ads<br>[[SEO]]<br>[[Search engine marketing|SEM]]<br>[[Direct Marketing]]<br>Display Marketing
parent = C. Ronald Oister, etc. (1996-2005)<br>[[SBC Communications|SBC]]/[[AT&T]] (2005-2006, 60%; 2006-present, wholly-owned)<br>[[BellSouth]] (2005-2006, 40%)|
| parent = [[YP Holdings]]
industry = Directory Publishing|
homepage = [http://www.yellowpages.com/ www.yellowpages.com]
| homepage = [http://www.yellowpages.com/ yellowpages.com]
| foundation = {{start date and age|2012|5|8}}
| location = [[Tucker, Georgia|Tucker]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[United States|U.S.]]
}}
}}


'''Yellowpages.com''' is an Internet Web site operated by '''YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC''', a wholly owned subsidiary of [[AT&T]].[http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=22860]
'''Yellowpages.com''' is a United States–based web site operated by [[Thryv]] that provides listings for local businesses. In 2013, it was re-branded as YP.com or simply "YP". It currently offers a broad range of marketing tools including online presence, [[Local search (Internet)|local search]], display ads and direct marketing. It was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of [[AT&T]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=22860 |title=AT&T- News Room |publisher=Att.com |date=2006-12-29 |access-date=2012-01-31}}</ref>

YP's consumer brands include the YP mobile app and yp.com, which are used by nearly 80 million consumers each month in the U.S. and The Real Yellow Pages directory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/gene-marks/do-people-still-use-the-yellow-pages-the-answer-may-surprise-you.html|title=Do People Still Use the Yellow Pages? The Answer May Surprise You|last=Marks|first=Gene|date=2015-01-28|website=Inc.com|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref> In May 2016, YP entered into a partnership with the Better Business Bureau, displaying ratings for listings of businesses that have earned an A or A+ rating or BBB accreditation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://smallbiztrends.com/2016/05/bbb-ratings-on-yp-business-listings.html |title=BBB Ratings Now Appear on YP Business Listings |publisher=smallbiztrends.com |date=2016-05-03}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
Yellowpages.com began on April 6,1996 when C. Ronald Oister, Bill Povondra, and Dane Madsen purchased the name from the NIC (now Network Solutions). The previous owners of the domain had allowed the registration to lapse. The Company was incorporated in Nevada in 1996.


Yellowpages.com was founded in 1996 during the [[Dot-com bubble|dotcom boom]], by multiple cofounders, including CEO Dane Madsen.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Feldman |first=Amy |title=Alex Algard Risked Everything To Turn His Struggling Firm, Whitepages, Into A Growing Tech Company |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2016/08/03/alex-algard-risked-everything-to-turn-his-struggling-firm-whitepages-into-a-growing-tech-company/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>Yellowpages.com became part of Globalgate, an ecommerce incubator and investment company in 1998, which sold the business to its largest investors in 2001. In late 2004, [[BellSouth|BellSouth Corp]] and [[SBC Communications, Inc.|SBC Communications Inc]]. (both of which published [[Telephone directory|phone directories]] using variants of the Yellow Pages name) purchased www.YellowPages.com Inc. reportedly for US$120 Million. The companies formed a joint venture to run the business. The two companies had already been partners for the wireless phone service [[Cingular]]. Each company had its own online Yellow Pages: BellSouth owned RealPages.com and SBC owned SmartPages.com. The two sites effectively merged into the newly acquired YellowPages.com.
Initially shunned by all of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC's) as [[NYNEX]] operated 'bigyellow' and GTE operated 'SuperPages', Yellowpages.com continued to grow and offer advertising listings on the internet 24/7 rather than in a locally distributed book. Years later SBC added 'smartpages' and Bell South added 'therealyellowpages' to search directories available on the internet. In 1997, [[Ameritech]] led a consortium to make an initial offer to purchase YellowPages.com from the founders. The Founders declined to sell and continued funding the Company internally.

In 2005, SBC acquired AT&T and took on the stronger AT&T brand.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-01-30 |title=SBC agrees to acquire AT&T for $16 billion |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6887107 |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> One year later, AT&T acquired Bellsouth for US$67 Billion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-03-25 |title=All work, no play for Mr Hands-on |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/541816/all-work-no-play-mr-hands |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref> At this point, the YELLOWPAGES.com business was no longer a joint venture, instead, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, also doing business as AT&T Interactive.

In 2009, the YELLOWPAGES.com site was rebranded as YP.com.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://screenwerk.com/2010/04/06/att-formally-announces-yp-brand-change/|title=AT&T Formally Announces YP Brand Change|website=Screenwerk|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/att-interactive-introduces-next-gen-local-search-experience-ypcom-90002927.html|title=AT&T Interactive Introduces Next-Gen Local Search Experience: YP.COM|website=www.prnewswire.com|language=en|access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref>


On May 8, 2012, [[Cerberus Capital Management]] acquired a majority share of YELLOWPAGES.com LLC, as well as the print Yellow Pages business from AT&T.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://corporate.yp.com/company-overview/|title=Company Overview : YP|work=Yellow Pages|date=2016|access-date=2016-03-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/att-completes-sale-of-advertising-solutions-and-interactive-business-units-to-cerberus-2012-05-08 |title=AT&T Completes Sale of Advertising Solutions and Interactive Business Units to Cerberus - MarketWatch |work=[[MarketWatch]] |date=2012-05-08 |access-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511200015/http://www.marketwatch.com/story/att-completes-sale-of-advertising-solutions-and-interactive-business-units-to-cerberus-2012-05-08 |archive-date=May 11, 2012 }}</ref> The business is now operating under YP LLC. YP has expanded its offers to include [[digital marketing]].
VC's spurned the Company, convinced that Alta Vista and Yahoo would dominate the local search space. The Founders were able to attract its first round of funding from high net worth individuals in 1998. Following that funding, Madsen, then interim CEO led a search for a permanent CEO. In 1999, a controlling interest in the Company was acquired by newly formed GlobalGate LLC, a start up interactive accelerator founded by the permanent CEO of YellowPages.com, and formed to invest in other startups to service YellowPages.com. GlobalGate moved the headquarters to San Francisco in an attempt to garner much needed attention in the online media and advertising space. Oister left the Company in 2002.


On July 31, 2012, YP was included in PaidContent50's list of "the world's most successful digital media companies" based on 2011 digital ad revenue.<ref>{{cite web |title=paidContent 50: The world's most successful digital media companies |url=https://gigaom.com/2012/07/31/pc50/ |website=Gigaom |date=July 31, 2012}}</ref>
In 2000, following the collapse of venture funding, GlobalGate, who had exhausted the Company's original funding and was unable to provide more capital, agreed to resell the Company to a group headed by Founders Madsen (CEO) and Povondra (Executive Vice President, Data). The recapitalization was provided by the original investor group who continued to fund the Company until its acqusition in late 2004 by a Joint Venture of [[SBC Communications]] (now owners of [[Ameritech]], [[Pacific Telesis]], [[Southern New England Telecommunications|SNET]]) and [[BellSouth]].


In July 2014, YP app was ranked No. 37 out of the top 100 applications downloaded for Apple's smartphone.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
Both sites' operations (SMARTpages and RealYellowPages) were merged into Yellowpages.com in [[2005]]. As a result of SBC Communications' merger with AT&T, the post merger AT&T wholly owned an additional telephone directory website AnyWho.com. AnyWho.com, though owned by AT&T Knowledge Ventures, was never merged into Yellowpages.com due to stake conflicts with BellSouth. The acquisition of [[BellSouth]] by [[AT&T]] on [[December 29]], 2006 lead to both companies being wholly owned.


In July 2017, [[YP Holdings]] was acquired by [[Thryv|Dex Media]] which became DexYP.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestreet.com/story/14207102/1/the-yellow-pages-which-apparently-still-exists-has-been-acquired-by-dex-media.html|title=The Yellow Pages, Which Apparently Still Exists, Has Been Acquired by Dex Media|last=Berman|first=Laura|date=2017-07-01|work=TheStreet|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Allegations of Deceptive Business Practices ==


In September 2018, 13 million users visited Yellowpages.com.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.quantcast.com/top-sites/US?userView=Public |title=Quantcast |website=Quantcast}}</ref> This is a revision from its current claim of 60M monthly users to Yellowpages.com.
YellowPages.com is notorious for using deceptive marketing practices. The company is currently operating a pay-per-click [[scam]] in which its sales representatives inform business owners that they are "guaranteed" a certain amount of clicks per month, or the business owner owes nothing for that month. I actuality, the business owner is billed for that month, even if no clicks are delivered at all. The business owner is required to pay the full price on a monthly basis for an entire year, even if very few clicks are ever delivered. Yellowpages.com then promises to eventually deliver the "guaranteed" number of clicks at an unspecified future date, if the clicks are not delivered during the course of a year. Such a contract is not enforceable, as the business owner is required to pay, but Yellowpages.com is not required to deliver the clicks, as there is no time frame in which the clicks must be delivered. If the clicks have not been delivered 100 years from now, Yellowpages.com will not be in violation of the contract as it is written. Yellowpages.com's obligation under the contract constitutes an "[[illusory promise]]," and, therefore, does not form the basis of a valid contract.


==References==
In another scam, Yellowpages.com sends what appears to be refund check to a business. The fine print on the check, however, indicates that endorsing the check obligates the business to pay for a highlighted listing on the Yellowpages.com website, at a rate much higher than fair market value.
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.yellowpages.com Yellowpages.com]
*{{Official website|http://www.yellowpages.com}}
*[http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=22860 AT&T and BellSouth Join to Create a Premier Global Communications Company], ''AT&T News Room'', December 29, 2006
*[http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=22860 ''AT&T and BellSouth Join to Create a Premier Global Communications Company''], ''AT&T News Room'', December 29, 2006


{{AT&T}}
{{AT&T}}
{{Cerberus Capital Management}}


[[Category:AT&T]]
[[Category:YP Holdings]]
[[Category:Online databases]]
[[Category:Former AT&T subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Websites]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1996]]
[[Category:Online person databases]]
[[Category:Online marketplaces of the United States]]
[[Category:Yellow pages]]
[[Category:Companies based in Glendale, California]]
[[Category:Consumer guides]]

Revision as of 17:15, 13 December 2024

YP LLC
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryOnline Advertising
FoundedMay 8, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-05-08)
HeadquartersTucker, Georgia, U.S.
ProductsDigital Advertising
Print Directories
Web Design
Listing Management
Video Creation
Local Search Ads
SEO
SEM
Direct Marketing
Display Marketing
ParentYP Holdings
Websiteyellowpages.com

Yellowpages.com is a United States–based web site operated by Thryv that provides listings for local businesses. In 2013, it was re-branded as YP.com or simply "YP". It currently offers a broad range of marketing tools including online presence, local search, display ads and direct marketing. It was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.[1]

YP's consumer brands include the YP mobile app and yp.com, which are used by nearly 80 million consumers each month in the U.S. and The Real Yellow Pages directory.[2] In May 2016, YP entered into a partnership with the Better Business Bureau, displaying ratings for listings of businesses that have earned an A or A+ rating or BBB accreditation.[3]

History

Yellowpages.com was founded in 1996 during the dotcom boom, by multiple cofounders, including CEO Dane Madsen.[4]Yellowpages.com became part of Globalgate, an ecommerce incubator and investment company in 1998, which sold the business to its largest investors in 2001. In late 2004, BellSouth Corp and SBC Communications Inc. (both of which published phone directories using variants of the Yellow Pages name) purchased www.YellowPages.com Inc. reportedly for US$120 Million. The companies formed a joint venture to run the business. The two companies had already been partners for the wireless phone service Cingular. Each company had its own online Yellow Pages: BellSouth owned RealPages.com and SBC owned SmartPages.com. The two sites effectively merged into the newly acquired YellowPages.com.

In 2005, SBC acquired AT&T and took on the stronger AT&T brand.[5] One year later, AT&T acquired Bellsouth for US$67 Billion.[6] At this point, the YELLOWPAGES.com business was no longer a joint venture, instead, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, also doing business as AT&T Interactive.

In 2009, the YELLOWPAGES.com site was rebranded as YP.com.[7][8]

On May 8, 2012, Cerberus Capital Management acquired a majority share of YELLOWPAGES.com LLC, as well as the print Yellow Pages business from AT&T.[9][10] The business is now operating under YP LLC. YP has expanded its offers to include digital marketing.

On July 31, 2012, YP was included in PaidContent50's list of "the world's most successful digital media companies" based on 2011 digital ad revenue.[11]

In July 2014, YP app was ranked No. 37 out of the top 100 applications downloaded for Apple's smartphone.[citation needed]

In July 2017, YP Holdings was acquired by Dex Media which became DexYP.[12]

In September 2018, 13 million users visited Yellowpages.com.[13] This is a revision from its current claim of 60M monthly users to Yellowpages.com.

References

  1. ^ "AT&T- News Room". Att.com. 2006-12-29. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
  2. ^ Marks, Gene (2015-01-28). "Do People Still Use the Yellow Pages? The Answer May Surprise You". Inc.com. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  3. ^ "BBB Ratings Now Appear on YP Business Listings". smallbiztrends.com. 2016-05-03.
  4. ^ Feldman, Amy. "Alex Algard Risked Everything To Turn His Struggling Firm, Whitepages, Into A Growing Tech Company". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  5. ^ "SBC agrees to acquire AT&T for $16 billion". NBC News. 2005-01-30. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  6. ^ "All work, no play for Mr Hands-on". South China Morning Post. 2006-03-25. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  7. ^ "AT&T Formally Announces YP Brand Change". Screenwerk. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  8. ^ "AT&T Interactive Introduces Next-Gen Local Search Experience: YP.COM". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  9. ^ "Company Overview : YP". Yellow Pages. 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  10. ^ "AT&T Completes Sale of Advertising Solutions and Interactive Business Units to Cerberus - MarketWatch". MarketWatch. 2012-05-08. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  11. ^ "paidContent 50: The world's most successful digital media companies". Gigaom. July 31, 2012.
  12. ^ Berman, Laura (2017-07-01). "The Yellow Pages, Which Apparently Still Exists, Has Been Acquired by Dex Media". TheStreet. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  13. ^ "Quantcast". Quantcast.
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