Yellow is introducing an opt-in approach for the Bay of Plenty Residential White Pages, whereby readers in the region will need to order a (free) book if they wish to receive a copy.

In a bid to make it faster and easier for consumers to find business information in the White Pages section of the Bay of Plenty Yellow book, residential listings will this year be published in a separate White Pages Residential book and have a 10 per cent increase in standard font size.

All Bay of Plenty residents will continue to receive the Yellow business directory, delivered from June 14 and featuring local business, Sarah and Adam Jamieson from BOP Plumbing and Gas, feature as cover stars.

Yellow CEO Darren Linton says the change aims to address consumer preference, with research showing that digital search for residential information is increasing, while New Zealanders have a greater tendency to use the Yellow print directories to find local businesses.

'Only three in 10 people using the Yellow books are looking up people in the White Pages section, whereas there has been a 20 per cent increase in searches for people on White Online over the last five years, with around two thirds of site traffic related to people searches.

'With the majority of print-based search seeking out business information, we've decided to separate the residential listings into their own book, which consumers can order online or by calling Yellow.

'People that wish to receive the White Pages Residential book can still get it – or they continue to look online – they simply have a choice of how they access the information.”

Across the country the Yellow book continues to have high search and stable usage, equating to an average 9.6 million monthly lookups, 65 per cent of which lead to phone calls to local businesses.

Darren says readers of the White Pages will now enjoy 10 per cent larger text size, a key factor for improving readability.

Yellow continues to expand its digital marketing solutions for New Zealand's SME community, including website creation, search engine optimisation and high-impact digital story telling.

Despite the increasing number of people using digital to search, not all residential listings will be separated.

'We've determined this from regional research which shows where there's still heavy reliance on the White Pages for household information."

The new opt-in approach has been rolling out gradually in Christchurch, Waikato, Wellington, Otago, Hawke's Bay, and now Bay of Plenty.

However, the residential and business listings will remain combined in smaller regions more inclined to use the Yellow books – including West Coast, Whanganui, Timaru/Oamaru, Marlborough, Gisborne, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Southland, Nelson and Taranaki.

To opt in, Bay of Plenty residents can visit www.ypgbooks.co.nz and provide address details. White Pages residential books are scheduled for delivery from July 27 onward.