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AVN, the porn-industry trade publisher, has at last split with longtime partner AdBrite, which ran an AVN-branded online ad network for adult websites. A new network, run solely by AVN, will launch on December 1. We first noticed the relationship was on the rocks when AVN yanked the AdBrite-run AVNads.com website offline and threw up a hastily built, barely functional site of its own back in August. AdBrite then briefed porn publishers about plans for its own porn-ad network, BlackLabelAds, which was supposed to launch in September, but never did. The two partners patched things up, restoring AdBrite's site. One small problem for AVN, though.

AdBrite is keeping the network's current customers, and, yes, moving them to BlackLabelAds. Which means, as of December 1, AdBrite will officially be in the porn business. AdBrite serves 678 million impressions on its regular network and 267 million impressions on AVNads.com, which means porn ads make up roughly 28 percent of AdBrite's business. That may decrease, of course, if AVN is successful at luring away customers. (AdBrite founder Philip Kaplan has not yet responded to a request for comment, but I'll update the item when he does.)

From the tone of AVN's press release about the split, it seems like the squabbling pair has someone else to blame for their troubles: 365 Main, the troubled datacenter in San Francisco whose backup power system failed during a July power outage. AdBrite's ad servers were among those brought down. AVN goes on at length about its plans to host its network in multiple datacenters, with 24/7 monitoring. One wonders: If 365 Main's failures led, ultimately, to the demise of this relationship, would AdBrite and AVN have a claim for lost revenues?