AdBrite exec finds it hard to run his own firm

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, June 10, 2006

Philip Kaplan, the bawdy joker behind a profane Web site that skewered casualties of the dot-com bust, found out mocking other executives is easier than trying to run a rapidly expanding company.

The realization prompted Kaplan to step down as chief executive of AdBrite, an online advertising agency he started in late 2004.

Kaplan, 30, resigned last week to make way for Ignacio “Iggy” Fanlo, a former investment banker who helped build and then sell Shopping.com to eBay Inc. for $634 million last year.

The change in command ended Kaplan’s attempt to establish himself as a serious CEO after years of clowning around at F—edCompany.com, or FC – a derisive Web site that he created to excoriate Internet startups as they flamed out in 2000 and 2001.

Kaplan began his makeover in late 2004 when he moved from New York to start AdBrite in the same San Francisco neighborhood that spawned so many of the dot-coms that became objects of his scorn. Now he is scrambling to stop people from interpreting AdBrite’s management shake-up as a sign of trouble at his own dot-com.

Although AdBrite remains unprofitable, Kaplan says the startup is thriving. The agency now places ads on 16,000 Web sites, up from 3,500 early last year. Meanwhile, AdBrite’s payroll has tripled to 45 employees, bolstered by quarterly revenues that have been increasing by 25 percent to 50 percent every three months, according to Kaplan.

Venture capitalists saw enough upside in AdBrite to invest $8 million in March.

AOL expands into security services: AOL is releasing free software to automatically check whether you have the latest security protection on your Windows computer.

The Active Security Monitor software is part of AOL’s expansion into security services. The company is expected to soon announce its own for-pay security suite, competing with the products from Microsoft Corp., Symantec Corp., McAfee Inc. and others.

The monitor, launching Thursday, checks for the presence of firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. It makes sure you have the latest security updates for those programs and for the Windows operating system. The monitor also tells you if your Internet Explorer browser isn’t properly configured.

“Most people don’t have all of the core security protections they need and, worse, don’t realize how vulnerable they are,” John McKinley, president of AOL’s Digital Services division, said in a statement.

The AOL tool goes beyond Microsoft’s Windows Security Center in several ways, including checking home-network settings, looking for potentially threatening file-sharing software and generating an overall safety score.

Truck stop ads draw fire: The major broadcast and cable networks are challenging the use of technology to substitute commercials shown during regular television programs at truck stops across the nation.

Flying J Inc. can get more than $30,000 a month for 30-second substitute spots, according to court papers. The substitute advertising often targets the demographic frequenting Flying J establishments, where truck drivers rest and refuel. For instance, there are promotions for the American Truckers Legal Association.

Flying J is able to insert the commercials using a device that can detect changes in the television feeds the company gets through EchoStar Communications Corp.’s Dish Network. Visitors watch the programming in televisions in the truck stops’ restaurants and lounges.

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CNN are among the networks that sued Flying J earlier this year, accusing it of violating copyright law and promoting unfair competition.

“Wii” will overcome, Nintendo head says: Nintendo Co.’s president says he has no regrets about the widely criticized “Wii” name for the company’s upcoming game console.

Satoru Iwata, who was among those who had come up with the name, said Nintendo’s handheld Game Boy was first criticized, too, and had even prompted questions about whether girls could play.

But once a product catches on, he said, so does the name. Since its release in the late 1980s, Game Boy has become one of the world’s most popular and enduring line of portable game systems.

“I have never thought the name was a mistake,” Iwata said of Wii. “Some people seem to have a problem with it now, but I think they’ll grow to like it.”

Wii – pronounced “we” and meant to conjure the idea of fun for everyone – offers easy-playing games, regardless of sex, age or skills, according to Nintendo, the Japanese maker of Super Mario Bros. and Pokemon.

Instead of old-style remote controllers with their complex buttons, Wii has a wireless wand-like remote that can be swung around like a tennis racket or a baton for conducting a virtual orchestra.

Promised for the final quarter of this year, Wii is among the competing entries in next-generation consoles. Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 is set to go on sale in November, while Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 went on sale last year.

Hurricane kit price may blow you away: Southerners worried a hurricane will leave them without phones can now buy a “Personal Hurricane Kit” for just $4,995.

The kit, launched last month by Assemble Communications LLC of Davidson, N.C., comes in a watertight suitcase and features a battery-powered Inmarsat satellite antenna and handset. It also comes with cables to connect a computer to Inmarsat’s broadband Internet service.

The price includes 400 minutes of talk time that don’t expire until used and 150 megabytes of Internet access – enough for about two days of average surfing.

Those who don’t need broadband access or don’t want a six-pound kit may be satisfied with cheaper, standalone satellite phones.

Phones for the Iridium Satellite LLC network cost about $1,500, and 500 minutes of talk time can be had for $550, though they expire after a year.

Wie gehen Sie?: U.S. presidents have their fireside chats and weekly radio addresses. Germany’s chancellor will be debuting her video podcast.

Called “Die Kanzlerin direkt,” or “The Chancellor Direct,” the podcast will feature Angela Merkel’s thoughts on mostly political topics, although the first video – coming out Thursday – will address the World Cup soccer tournament that opens Friday in Munich and runs through July 9.

Subsequent videos will be made available each Saturday from Merkel’s Web site at www.bundeskanzlerin.de.

The idea is “to be true to the original democratic principle and make information available to everyone so that they can form their own opinions,” government spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters.