Periodical Publishing

INDEPENDENT DIRECTORY
A directory without ties to a telephone operating company.

WHITE PAGES
Directories that alphabetically list the names, addresses and phone numbers of residential, professional and business phone customers.

YELLOW PAGES
Directories that list businesses according to the product or service they provide.

BARRIERS TO ENTRY
High barriers to entry mean that new companies struggle to enter an industry, while low barriers mean it is easy for new companies to enter an industry.

CAPITAL INTENSITY
Compares the amount of money spent on capital (plant, machinery and equipment) with that spent on labor. IBISWorld uses the ratio of depreciation to wages as a proxy for capital intensity. High capital intensity is more than $0.333 of capital to $1 of labor; medium is $0.125 to $0.333 of capital to $1 of labor; low is less than $0.125 of capital for every $1 of labor.

CONSTANT PRICES
The dollar figures in the Key Statistics table, including forecasts, are adjusted for inflation using the current year (i.e. year published) as the base year. This removes the impact of changes in the purchasing power of the dollar, leaving only the "real" growth or decline in industry metrics. The inflation adjustments in IBIS World’s reports are made using the US Bureau of Economic Analysis’ implicit GDP price deflator.

DOMESTIC DEMAND
Spending on industry goods and services within the United States, regardless of their country of origin. It is derived by adding imports to industry revenue, and then subtracting exports.

EMPLOYMENT
The number of permanent, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees, working proprietors, partners, managers and executives within the industry.

ENTERPRISE
A division that is separately managed and keeps management accounts. Each enterprise consists of one or more establishments that are under common ownership or control.

ESTABLISHMENT
The smallest type of accounting unit within an enterprise, an establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. Multiple establishments under common control make up an enterprise.

EXPORTS
Total value of industry goods and services sold by US companies to customers abroad.

IMPORTS
Total value of industry goods and services brought in from foreign countries to be sold in the United States.

INDUSTRY CONCENTRATION
An indicator of the dominance of the top four players in an industry. Concentration is considered high if the top players account for more than 70% of industry revenue. Medium is 40% to 70% of industry revenue. Low is less than 40%.

The fall of the Database and Directory Publishing industry over the five years to 2022 has been driven by the sustained migration from print to digital advertising, as the industry historically generated the majority of its revenue from the sale of advertisement space in printed publications. Print advertising expenditure, which drives demand for advertising space in directories, is expected to fall at an annualized rate of 12.2% over the five years to 2022. Forced to focus on digital presence, the industry has experienced even more intense competition from online search engines and social media platforms, limiting the industry's digital advertisement sales. As a result, over the five years to 2022, industry revenue is expected to erode at an annualized rate of 8.0% to $3.7 billion, including a projected drop of 4.5% in 2022, as the industry continues to struggle in the wake of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Demand for printed directories has all but vanished over the past five years, as institutional clients and consumers have continued their shift to convenient online resources. Declining demand for print advertising has curbed industry revenue, and growth in online revenue has only slightly mitigated this downturn due to the sheer scale of digital advertising competitors. Additionally, this transition has pressured industry profitability and participation, as operators have been forced to lower advertising prices in both print and digital formats to compete. Remaining operators have cut labor costs to protect the industry's average profit margin, causing both employment and wages to fall sharply.

The industry is forecast to continue to dissolve even more quickly at an annualized rate of 10.1% to $2.2 billion over the five years to 2027, as both businesses and consumers will continually turn to digital alternatives for information and advertising opportunities. Consequently, demand for ad space in traditional print publications is anticipated to fall. As online publications' share of industry revenue continues to expand, industry operators will likely be increasingly forced to compete in the digital advertising market largely dominated by massive search engines and social media platforms. Nevertheless, operators are expected to benefit from improving overall demand for the industry's digital products and services, which may help the industry avoid tearing apart for a few more years.