The Salt Lake Tribune carried an interesting story on how traditional telephone directories are slowly exploring the niche segments of the market.

After surveying his advertising options among the well-known yellow pages publishers, plumbing business owner Howard Uriarte decided to take the road less traveled. Instead of advertising his business through Dex (the official directory for Qwest published by R.H. Donnelley Corp.), Yellow Book USA, or in Phone Directories Co., Uriarte decided to market his company, U.S. Plumbing and Gas, in The Gay Pages, a new directory launched this year by Salt Lake City businessman Sean Wright..

The risk of focusing on the small but vibrant gay community of Salt Lake City eventually paid off for Uriarte. An initial investment of $800 rapidly produced over $8,000 in revenue.

The Gay Pages is an example of a gradual shift in the yellow pages business that was spurred by passage of the Telecommunications Act in 1996, stated the article. According to Simba Information (a Connecticut-based company that studies the media industry), 260 publishers put out 7,586 editions totaling 456 million books. Collectively, the companies raked in $16.5 billion in revenue last year.

Although regional Bell companies continue to draw in most of the revenue, the picture is rapidly changing. Independent publishers accounted for just 4% of all revenue in 1995. This year, the Kelsey Group predicts that the figure is expected to be 29%.

Three years ago, Dex launched a Spanish-language yellow pages, one of at least a couple in the market. It was folded into a larger English-language edition for two years. This year, Dex decided to publish a Spanish-language edition under a separate cover.

This is not to say the yellow pages market is overcrowded, says Michael Bingham, chief financial officer of Phone Directories Co., whose Orem-based company publishes directories in 15 Western and Midwestern states. Having more than one publisher to choose from keeps advertising rates affordable for companies with limited marketing budgets.