Article Looks at Minibook Battle in Bay Area

Interesting article in the San Francisco Chronicle about how some advertisers and competitors are responding to the growth of companion books. The article suggests SBC’s use of companions as a competitive weapon against its rival Valley Yellow Pages may be working but not without collateral damage. Some advertisers, it says, resent the introduction of another product they feel they can’t afford not to buy.

The companion issue is becoming a big one, at least in the U.S. market, as incumbent publishers roll them out aggressively as a direct challenge to independents. Here is the link.