Stop Phone Books

Tired of getting phone books you never use?
Opt out today using the phone book industry’s free service: www.yellowpagesoptout.com

Submit a complaint

Here are steps you can take if you receive a phone book after opting out: 

• Fill out the opt-out service feedback form.
• Contact the Local Search Association by phone or email. They manage the opt-out service.
• Contact the phone book company directly. The Product Stewardship Institute has created a sample letter you can use to contact the publishers.

Seattle's opt-out service

The City of Seattle ran a phone books opt-out service from May 2011 through April 2013. More than 75,000 households and businesses used the service, stopping delivery of more than 435,000 phone books. This saved almost 400 tons of paper a year.

The yellow pages publishing industry won a lawsuit requiring the City to cancel our opt-out service. The Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled that the program violated the publishers' rights of free speech. In a statement of shared principles, the Local Search Association and individual publishers agreed to honor all opt-outs submitted to the City’s site through April 22, 2013.

Sample Letter

The following sample letter to publishers can be sued by residents and businesses who received a phone book after opting out). Copy and paste the text below and insert your specific information into the text that has [brackets].

[Date]

[Publisher Address]

Dear [Company Name]:

Thank you for creating an easy-to-use resource to opt out of receiving phone books. I opted out of my phone book on yellowpagesoptout.com because [Your Reason]. I am therefore disappointed that I still received a phone book this year.

Please find and fix the flaw in your opt-out system that led me to receive a phone book, despite opting out on your website. If I received a phone book after opting out, there are probably others in my area who have also experienced this. This is not acceptable.

Finally and most importantly, I urge [Company] to implement an opt-in policy. Research indicates that 87 percent of adults support an opt-in approach to phone book distribution, which would ensure that those who do want phone books still receive them.

In the meantime, I’d greatly appreciate if you would permanently remove my address (below) from your mailing list.

Sincerely,

[Name]

[Address]

Seattle, WA [Zip]