As of today, businesses and individuals can opt out of recieving paper-based phone books in the mail using a new Website called the National Yellow Pages Consumer Choice & Opt Out Site.
Last month, we wrote about a study showing that nearly 70% of adults in the United States “rarely or never” use the phone book, and instead opt to use the Web-based search tools, which are infinitely more convenient and efficient. That research was conducted on behalf on WhitePages.com, who operates BanthePhoneBook.org, a site advocating opt-in-only delivery of phone books.
The new opt-out site was created by Yellow Pages Association, the trade organization that represents the publishers of phone books in the United States, signaling an acknowledgement that printing and distributing paper phone books to every household is no longer a sustainable practice.
To opt out of recieving the phone book on your door, head to www.yellowpagesoptout.com and register for the site. The registration process requires you to enter your address and phone number, but a note on the page promises that this information won’t be used for any purpose other than the opt out.
Once registered, you’ll recieve an email with your auto-generated password, which you can then use to log into the site. From there, you can select which phone books you would like to recieve (wishful thinking on their part?) or click the grey “Opt Out of All” button in the lower left and then click “Save Changes.”
After opting out, you’ll get a confirmation email listing which phones you’ll be recieving moving forward, if any.