Good pickup Mark. I noticed one search result yesterday from YP which interested me.
They have created a new directory on the site yellowpages.com.au/bi which the robots.txt file does not exclude.
Interestingly though they are preventing any cache with the following meta tags on these pages:
It will be interesting to see what kind of Google rankings they get with this move.
The comment "It represents better value for businesses advertising in Yellow Pages because their listing can now be reached through a second means - search engines" is great, but let's wait until every advertiser listing has been indexed and ranked. 
Motor mechanics are filed under "motor engineers & repairers" but within the business name index (bi) only the first few pagination pages have been indexed. See: site:yellowpages.com.au "motor engineers & repairers"
They will eventually be visible via:
site:yellowpages.com.au/bi/ -select "motor engineers & repairers"
(-select filters out the index pages)
Some 80,000 council-linked listings had been indexed accidentally but they will disappear via robots.txt as those results look all the same in the SERPs.
Different Google DCs are showing different counts -- all part of the waiting game.
To see indexed advertisers in, say, Qld, try:
site:yellowpages.com.au/bi/ -select qld (and "repeat the search with the omitted results included.") -- you will see mainly Aaa types of business names so far.
Brett- cheers for the info & comment..yes, looking at this today, I noticed this myself as well - e.g result 8 (no affiliation with this business)
http://www.google.com.au/search?...le+Search&
meta=
Ash - You are right about their URL structure - it will take some time for Google to crawl beyond those first few paginated results.
I had a laugh when I read your comment about Aaa businesses - good old printed YP 'optimization' has been a while since I looked at a printed YP
M
Good thing for the people who pay high fees for the listings, not so good for their competitors who had an advantage before this move 
Hi Mark
Try doing a Google search for Tax Accountant Penrith, and all will be revealed.
The main difference being $49.50 per month for dLook and #$^! knows how much for yellow.
Contents of this website are good and appreciative. Recommended to all. http://www.goagifts.com
> What I mean by this is that they are
> only letting Google index lists of
> sub-categories, rather than individual
> business listings themselves.
yellow pages released over 2 million pages to be indexed by google at once. It's just taking almighty google some time to index them all.
google can index each individual business listing.
Hi Rover,
Cheers - I noticed that after posting and made a comment - but will update the post now.. are you are from YP from any chance?
Ash is from YP.
Yes, I work for YOL but it's too early to celebrate visibility via search engines. Google has yet to index and rank a lot of listings, made harder without a sitemap.xml file (before anyone points out the "obvious") -- things move slowly.
Mark - a quick note with 'official' confirmation (not that you need it as you're already on to it). We've put out a statement today - FYI below.
------------------
Sensis opens Yellow™ content to search engines
Sensis has opened the door of www.yellow.com.au, the biggest local business database in the country, to search engines for the first time.
The strategic move enables search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Live Search to index the 2 million-plus listings on www.yellow.com.au and make them available to people using search engines to find local businesses.
For businesses listed in Yellow™ who do not have their own website, it means they now have an instant web address where their business details can be found by the millions of potential customers using search engines.
Sensis’ General Manager Online Search and Directories, Chris Smith, said optimising Yellow™ listings to be found on search engines was an evolutionary step in Sensis and Yellow’s strategy to help Australians find, buy and sell.
“Making our Yellow™ database searchable by search engines represents another key milestone in our strategy to increase the distribution of our content and the value for our advertisers.
“In much the same way we’ve made Yellow listings available across print, online, voice, mobile and satellite navigation devices, this initiative takes Yellow a giant step further by taking advantage of the popularity of search engines and using them as another channel through which Yellow listings can be found,” he said.
To optimise its content for indexing by search engines, Yellow has constructed a specially designed web page for every business listed in the online directory. Each web page has its own URL and contains information such as the business’ name, address, phone numbers and location on a map, as well as the capability for people to email the listing to a friend or send to their mobile phone.
This effectively provides a standalone page for each Yellow listing that can be served up in search engine results when a person conducts a search relevant to that business.
“Search engines point people to content so it’s a logical progression to make our Yellow content, content currently used by over 9 million people per month, even more accessible,” Mr Smith said.
“For our advertisers, their Yellow listing becomes more powerful as it has much greater reach than ever before. And for consumers using search engines to find local businesses, they now have access to Yellow’s comprehensive database of local businesses.”
Mr Smith said the popularity of the www.yellow.com.au website and the way it had been built meant the new individual pages created for Yellow businesses carry a heavy weighting in terms of where they appear in the organic results on search engines.
“Put simply, the fact www.yellow.com.au is well known and used has a big impact in determining how high businesses listed in Yellow may appear in results on search engine
Hmmm, I wonder if the change of philosophy will be extended to YP's negative advertising campaign strategy - ie - fear of being left out and sack your kid.
Over the years educated advertisers have realised there are many more options now available.
There's a lot of work and money to be spent now to change the perception of YP being irrelevant.
Commenting by HaloScan
