I was at a friend’s house the other night who has a lava lamp in his “man cave”. And although the gooey liquid inside of the lava lamp does not solidify or rise and fall the way it once did, my memories of Spencer gifts are as vivid as the coffee I can smell coming from my kitchen on this wintery Colorado morning.

Everyone I know that grew up with a Spencer gift in their local mall knows exactly what I mean. That smell of packaged incense and the smell of fresh latex from the George Bush mask blended together like a teenage pimple-driven craze to go on a Saturday morning shopping spree. Do we get the black light and neon panther poster, the invisible ink pen, or the pack of exploding gum that clearly did not look like a package of ill-intended Double Mint gum.

One walking into Cinderella City was greeted by the 3 foot wide by 5 foot tall Directory board. While the board at that time was still analog, it showed the location of each store and a big red arrow saying “you are here”. Once you knew the mall (like we all did), we walked right past it as it was no longer needed. Newbies or out of towners would probably use the board, but probably only once.

None the less, there was always an advertisement at the top of the board, placed there to attract customers to a specific location for a specific reason, which was paid for at a specific price. Hence the literal start of “directory ads”. As a side note, I placed a picture the street like basement, aptly named Cinder Alley here just to keep everyone reading…

Today, while we walk into Park Meadows or Southlands and are greeted by a much more dynamic, digital directory board, directory ads are still there. Serving the function of advertising while the reader is trying to get much needed information.

However, this is a much less aggressive and less pervasive form of directory services than what we see online. The most omnipresent directory services is Yelp, which everyone has used and probably interacted with in a two-way fashion (receive information and give information in the form of reviews). This directory service has been institutionalized and replicated by many other services focusing on industry verticals.

For example, if I am looking for a Financial Advisor, I can type “financial advisor in my city” and the first or second sponsored result will come back as “SmartAsset”. And if I go into that listing, I will see content that determine which financial advisor is right for me and then provides me with a listing of the top matches. However, most of the ordering of the advisors presented is based on who pays the most to show up on top.

However, most of the ordering of the advisors presented is based on who pays the most to show up on top.

So now when I see Acme Wealth Management at the top, they have paid a premium price to try to get me to click their name first and be directed to their profile page within SmartAsset. All the while, I am still in the SmartAsset.com website, increasing the power of their website and not the power of Acme Wealth Management’s website.

A few years ago, this WAS the best way to advertise as these listing services were cost efficient and in most cases low maintenance. However, with the advent of sponsored advertisements (sitting above SEM ads) and the newly created Google Screened ads, these listing services can no longer compete for top spot.

Much like the decrease in effectiveness of the Cinderella City directory sign, businesses are now asking whether their website will ever actually be clicked when they are sitting in a directory near the bottom of the first page of Google and Bing search engine results.

Some of the most well-known directory services have also become more full-service digital agencies for small to mid-sized businesses. FindLaw and SuperLawyers have cornered the market for law firms over the years, adding content and social media posting as a sweetener to web hosting. Zocdoc has made large strides within the dental profession, promising the “Top Dentists” as a reward for your ample click to their service. And 1800Accountant is the go-to for most 1 – 5 person CPA and bookkeeping firms to get leads.

As prices continue to rise for directory services and the results remains the same or decrease, many small to mid-sized businesses are going back to an ala carte digital marketing practice, taking back their website management and hosting, content creation and optimization. And while directory services have their place in a digital marketing budget, it is wise to consult with a digital specialist on what may be lost. The ability to build modular websites, hosting within the cloud, and increased content generation has made digital marketing simpler and user friendly than ever before.

In 1997, Cinderella City was demolished and rebuilt as condos and an outdoor updated mall. And while that place gave us all a ton of memories over the 30 years it stood, the ability to evolve did not happen. The advent of the internet has sped everything up, and one is to wonder, what duration we can expect until directory services are turned to rubble.