AdBrite CEO: 'Layoffs are not a statement about performance'

AdBrite, the "Internet's Ad Marketplace," has laid off 40 percent of its workforce in an effort to be profitable. Two executives, its vice president of marketing, Paul Levine, and its vice president of finance, Bob Feller, were among those laid off.

"The layoffs are not a statement about performance, but about AdBrite controlling its own destiny and getting profitable immediately," AdBrite CEO Iggy Fanlo said in an interview. "And understanding the multi-decade phenomenon that we've found ourselves in economically, we felt there weren't other options."

"When an economic environment isn't strong, it's more prudent to tailor investment back, make choices more wisely, and self-fund," he said.

AdBrite, which won't need venture funding thanks to the layoffs, believes that profitability was just the first step in moving forward in an environment that's not necessarily conducive to high advertising revenue. According to Fanlo, AdBrite will focus all of its efforts going forward on a performance-based CPM model instead of its previous brand-based service. Fanlo claims that by switching his company to a performance-based model, it can enjoy a more highly-recurring revenue stream that should keep it profitable.

The company's history makes the news of its layoffs somewhat ironic. In 2003, AdBrite spun off from F***edCompany.com, which covered the layoffs and closings of start-ups during the Web bubble burst of 2000. F***edCompany's founder, Philip Kaplan, figured that there was more of an opportunity to grow by offering an automated advertising platform and decided to forgo his practice of discussing failed start-ups in minute detail and start AdBrite instead.

AdBrite currently serves 1.3 billion ad impressions each day on over 70,000 Web sites.

Originally reported on TechCrunch

[FoockedCompany]

Can i be the first to say it - Iggy "you don't get it". You got to AdBrite and said it isn't about Brand, it is about performance...you called everyone there fools for not going for brand. Then, once Brand wasn't working you said it was about direct response. Get is straight and listen to good employees instead of pushing them out

[inachu]

Pud does a lot better working at the helm and it all falls apart when he leaves people alone to their own devices.

[bvdon]

I use Adbrite on a site... it's not bad all things considered.

Well if as the email said that my account is going back to net 60 I will take that as an indicator you have pissed my money away and are on shakey ground. Seen it with ibill, epoc and others. First it;s late pay, they promise to pay then your beat. Most of us that have been around and have profitable operations will be long gone before you have a chance to beat us. I have already cut my business with adbright 80% in an effort to cover my ass. No check this month and it goes to 100%. I simply hire 3 girls with sexy voices and they sell the ad space for 3 times what I get from adbright. Plus you can never have too many pretty girls in an office. So no matter what happens I win.

For those of you that depend on adbright income consider spreading your space around multiple company's. Everybody won't go under and ya might just get luck and make it through with a ham sandwich left over.

Adbright is this years iBill. I can't wait for the stock for payment call. Lucky I passed on that with iBill and took 50% of cash owed instead. Otherwise I would have 100,000 shares of Ibill to paper my basement with. Pretty yes but smart.