"You can call it a public outrage or just, frankly, common sense that a vast number of people do not want to receive a printed directory," said Alex Algard, chief executive officer of White Pages Inc., a Seattle company on the flip side of the trend. It publishes residential listings online.
"It goes into the recycling bin. It becomes a child booster . . . anything other than what the phone book was intended to be," Algard said.
Even the business pages are getting whacked. Coming soon to a website near you will be an industry initiative that allows people to opt out of the yellow pages.
In response, the business directory industry is evolving, trying to save - and improve on - its $15 billion a year value with web versions and other add-ons.
Ditching the directories altogether is complicated.
Many states have laws requiring phone companies to publish residential white pages, from an era when companies wanted to reduce operator staffs.
It's an expensive law, given that residential directories have no direct ad revenue. So in many cases, the phone company itself initiates the move away from print.
Last November, Verizon received permission from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to stop delivering residential white pages - 12 million strong.
Anyone who wants the paper version will have to opt in by calling 800-888-8448.
New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Florida have done likewise. Verizon aims to nix all its residential white pages, saving 17,000 tons of paper.
The company has cited a Gallup poll finding that only 11 percent of people used a white pages directory in the last year.
Other groups have taken aim at the yellow pages.
Recently, Seattle, Wash., passed legislation to create a yellow pages opt-out system.
