Are Print Yellow Pages No Longer “Local”?

Mike Blumenthal has some nice LocalSEOGuide bait today on print yellow pages usage trends by advertisers entitled “Annual Print YP Death Watch”:

“In many categories the ads are for national players. In florists for example there are 2.5 pages and only 1/8 of one page covers truly local florists….The print YP are no longer a local advertising medium catering to local business. It is clear that what is left of the print yellow pages has been taken over by regional and national advertisers. One has to wonder though if they ever bother to calculate their returns or they are doing this out of habit.”

I wonder if this is a symptom of the “Big Box Store” effect on many local businesses, where bigger players are able to come into a market and push out smaller guys who can’t compete at the same scale?  I don’t know about florists, but it feels like many of the lawyers in my city are part of a multi-location regional company.  I am seeing this across my client base as well.  A lot fewer single locations over the years.  This may be a self-selection issue as smaller businesses are less likely to hire a fancy pants SEO guy like myself.

This post is begging for a rebuttal by The YP Commando.