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AdBrite, Google Drawn Into JuicyCampus Controversy

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March 20th 2008
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lips1.jpgADOTAS — JuicyCampus.com, a controversial Web site that publishes anonymous, unverified, and usually mean-spirited gossip about college students has become the target of unflattering chatter itself of late.

It’s also in the crosshairs of prosecutors in New Jersey who subpoenaed its records to find out of the site violates the state’s Consumer Fraud Act by stating it does not allow offensive material but failing to actually enforce the rule, New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said earlier this week.

Ad marketplace AdBrite and Google have also been roped into the investigation. JuicyCampus reportedly used both ad networks in the past, but both companies terminated their relationships with the site, saying they clearly violated their terms of service.

“AdBrite terminated the account belonging to JuicyCampus about three weeks ago,” Paul Levine, vice president of marketing for AdBrite said via e-mail. “We removed them as soon as we discovered they were trying to use our service; they were only around for a few days. We regularly remove users who do not meet AdBrite’s standards.”

Levine added that AdBrite was subpoenaed by the New Jersey Attorney General “as part of the case being built against Juicy Campus. They’ve asked us for the details on how Juicy Campus represented themselves in the sign-up process and such. But there is no implication by the N.J. attorney of any wrongdoing by AdBrite. We have been cooperating fully with the N.J. Attorney’s investigation of Juicy — that’s the extent of our involvement at this point.”

While the ad networks really have nothing to fear, JuicyCampus’ future is uncertain at best.

Sigma Phi Epsilon frat brother Matt Ivester founded JuicyCampus in August of 2007 and while the site has cooperated with police probes of random postings that threaten violence or campus shootings, its content has raised the ire of students and campuses around the country. Some colleges, such as Columbia University, are threatening to ban the site completely and countless students have complained after being outed or maligned as the campus’ “biggest slut.”



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