Messaging

RedV PopUpProtector

Gene Kavner, whose previous company partnered with Gator Corporation, is now in the business of fighting intrusive advertising, and seeks to distribute his product through a revenue share program with ISPs.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Associate Editor [March 10, 2003]

The RedV Network, of Redmond, Wash., is offering its RedV PopUpProtector to ISPs through a revenue share program that has several options, allowing ISPs to choose the amount of resources they want to commit to the program.

The company is run by Gene Kavner, whose previous company, Web3000, developed and sold a web accelerator program, NetSonic, for dialup subscribers. During the boom, Web3000 switched to an ad-supported system, aided by an alliance with Gator Corporation. Web3000 was shut down, and Kavner purchased the rights to NetSonic from the company's creditors.

His new company, the RedV Network, briefly experimented with the ad-supported model and served ads with its easy installer program, but moved to developing software that people would pay for—hence RedV PopUpProtector, which, ironically, protects users from ad serving software including that of Gator Corporation.

"With the ad-supported model, we have learned what works and what doesn't work," admitted Kavner. "Consumers spoke loudly and we listened. We have learned that users prefer to spend money and see fewer ads. We now have products that people are paying for."

Both sides now
Kavner does not see his product as eliminating web advertising. "Our products allow users to manage (not get rid of) their exposure to advertising in a legitimate way."

RedV does sell other products. NetSonic is still available, but Kavner says that most of its sales are in nations with inferior telecommunications infrastructure, where dialup still runs at 28.8 Kbps or less.

The company's other products include:

• RedV HistoryProtector, which allows users to erase their surfing history from their computer
• RedV X-Protector, which removes unwanted material from your computer
• RedV AdProtector, which removes ad serving programs including Gator and NetSonic
• RedV PanicProtector, which closes all PC windows with a single click

The company bundles these four products, plus RedV PopUpProtector, into its RedV ProtectorSuite, which it sells for $49.95.

A recent advertising campaign by EarthLink has raised awareness of pop up blocking software in general, and Kavner believes his company will be able to benefit from the expected rise in demand for pop up blocking as a service.

New math
The four pricing options for RedV PopUpProtector are described on the company's ISP pricing page.

In option 1, the ISP pays RedV a one-time $1,500 fee to customize the product with the ISP's logo, URL, and custom "pop up killed" sound. The ISP also pays a license fee to RedV that starts at $0.20 per user per month, and charges a fee it determines, possibly $1 per user per month. The RedV PopUpProtector does not contain links or ads for other RedV products.

In option 2, the ISP does not pay a one-time customization fee, but buys the product with an annual prepayment starting at $2.25 per copy of the software, with a minimum fee of $2,000.

Options 1 and 2 come with bundled phone support, and do not require the ISP to give RedV its customers' e-mail addresses. With options 1 and 2, RedV provides the software to the ISP, and provides a certain quantity of serial numbers that the ISP can distribute to its users.

Options 3 and 4 do require the ISP to give RedV its customers' e-mail addresses. They also allow RedV to try to sell its other products to the ISP's customers (the company promises no pop up ads), but the ISP receives a share of sales revenue. With options 3 and 4, bundled support is by e-mail only. With these options, RedV distributes its products, sending e-mail directly to an ISP's subscribers containing links to download the RedV PopUpProtector, as well as ads for other RedV products.

In option 3, the ISP pays a one-time fee starting at $0.25 per customer, with a minimum fee of $800, for a 90-day subscription. The ISP charges a fee it chooses, and also gets 50 percent of the revenue RedV receives from the sale of its other products to the ISP's subscriber base. RedV PopUpProtector is customized with the ISP's logo, link, and sound.

In option 4, the ISP pays no fees at all, and receives 35 percent of the fees from the sale of RedV PopUpProtector and other products. The product is not customized.

Users can continue to use RedV products after their subscriptions expire—with certain limitations. RedV PopUpProtector and other RedV products continue to function after any subscription expires, but the user receives no software updates or technical support. RedV products are only distributed via the Internet; the company does not distribute CDs. A subscriber can continue to use the expired software, but cannot reinstall it. If a user changes computers, reinstalls the system software, or, for any other reason, needs to install a RedV product again, that user must have a subscription to do so, or must purchase a new subscription.

RedV does sell its product on the open market directly to end users, but the prices ISPs can charge for RedV products are well below the open market prices set by RedV in its sales to individual end users, even after an ISP markup. For example, the company sells RedV PopUpProtector ad-free for $19.95, and charges $24.90 for the software plus a one year subscription. An ISP would be able charge its users $12 or less for the same product.

We spoke to RedV's latest ISP customer, SEMO.net (SEMO stands for South East Missouri), based in Poplar Bluffs, Mo. The company purchased 3,000 serial numbers from RedV on pricing plan 1 or 2. Timothy Hicks, SEMO.net director of marketing, told ISP-Planet, "it's great to be able to provide a customer a product they need, want, and will pay for. We've already done this with Postini, an anti-virus and anti-spam product. We recommend these products to our customers, and, often, if they don't choose it at first, they eventually see they need it."

SEMO is considering charging its users as little as half of RedV's suggested price of $12 per year.

— End