In a recent article by the Seattle Times, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates predicted that the advertising business model for traditional media will slowly decline as web-based advertising comes to the fore.

The same article stated that advertisers will spend about $445.5 billion globally in 2007, according to a forecast by ZenithOptimedia. Of that, online is expected to get 7% of the pie compared with newspapers’ 28.3%.

He also predicted that traditional Yellow Pages are doomed as voice-activated Internet searches combined with on-screen interfaces on smart mobile devices get better and proliferate. [Microsoft's] recent acquisition of voice-technology provider TellMe is accelerating the trend.

In bold and biting terms, Gates also added that Yellow Page usage among people below 50 will drop down to zero in the next five years.

Although web-based advertising may influence the profit margins of newspapers, magazines, television, and radio, traditional media is definitely not going away anytime soon, and there is ample time to adjust and take advantage of this transition.

In terms of the demise of Yellow Pages Mr. Gates predictions are not supported by the research facts. Millions of Yellow Pages advertisers, both print and online, can attest to the 14:1 return on investment, a result of the ready to buy consumers the Yellow Pages deliver. And while readership, viewer ship and listener ship has declined in other media the Yellow Pages has seen a growth in usage year after year.

Consumers find the Yellow Pages easy to use with valuable local information about the businesses in their local areas available at their fingertips. Publishers are meeting the needs of their consumers by developing new headings and by creating new formatted directories like the portable mini directory which have become so popular throughout North America.

The Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) is not only growing in use (25% each year according to the Kelsey Group), but it is also the perfect complement to the print editions for extending reach and electronic access. IYP can be seamlessly integrated with its print counterpart to maintain or enhance impact. In the future, the print and online versions of the Yellow Pages will continue to thrive simultaneously.

Sorry Mr. Gates but the hard copy is not going out of style any time soon. I guess as humans we just need to connect with something other than an electronic device every now and then.