Were the Yellow Pages ever actually curated? It's been a very long time now, but back in high school I did some freelance computer repair work by making up a business name and putting it in the Yellow Pages with my cell phone number. As far as I can recall, there was no validation of anything other than that the check I wrote them was good.
The curation for yellow pages was more indirect than anything.
A) your check cleared
B) you managed to work with the yellow pages company to get your ad right
C) you managed to keep your phone number operating between the time you placed the ad, and the time I opened the book to use it -- probably at least a couple of months for layout and printing, plus the up to a year before the next printing.
