Death Cycle For BizAdSplash Complete; Site Resolves To Blank Page On U.S. Server; Members’ Losses Unclear

It entered the autosurf world in January 2009 with the stern bang of a drum in a promotional video. The message was dire: “The World Is In Crisis,” it warned. “Turn On The News, And You’ll See. The Stock Market Is At A Record Low. Foreclosures Are At An All-Time High. Thousand’s (sic) Are Losing Their Jobs. Banks Are Closing. There Has To Be A Solution!”

The dire bang of the drum faded, replaced by a riff from an organ. The riff grew frantic, building toward a crescendo. The video never said the tones were from a 1999 work by Fatboy Slim: “Right Here, Right Now.”

Messages flashed in front of viewers’ eyes for more than a minute before the video announced the company’s name — BizAdSplash — and positioned the surf as the cure for all the economic misery in the world.

“Biz Ad Splash Has The Answer,” it said. “The Plan Is Simple. Advertise Your Business, A Product Or Service, Introduce Others To The Value Of Advertising. View A Few Ads For A Few Minutes A Day. Earn Profits. It’s That Simple!”

Except it wasn’t, of course.

BizAdSplash, whose “chief consultant” Clarence Busby was implicated by the U.S. Secret Service in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme probe as the operator of Golden Panda Ad Builder, was in the throes of death out of the gate. The company started out by promoting its offshore location; its servers resolved to Panama.

Payments slowed, then vanished. The site appeared, then disappeared, then reappeared. Even as BizAdSpash was in the throes of death, Busby talked about how “excited” he was — and how “excited” members who were not getting paid should be.

The site disappeared again over 2009’s Christmas holiday and into the new year. It then reappeared. In late January, members said they received a platitude-filled note from Busby that BizAdSplash had tanked.

“Now what about the future?” the email said. “No matter what, there is a future. There are many things on the Internet that will help you in this future, so don’t give up. Make the effort and success is just right around the corner. May your life be full of faith, hope and love. This is where you will find your best rewards. May God bless you all!”

Busby’s name appeared at the bottom of the email, which carried a business address of Acworth, Ga. The surf came to life in the wake of the seizure of tens of millions of dollars from AdSurfDaily Inc. and Golden Panda Ad Builder. Busby is the former president of Golden Panda, which ceded more than $14 million to the government in the ASD/Golden Panda case.

Known for syrupy communications, Busby described the BAS staff as “sad,” according to the January email.

“Our staff has been sad, not just because of losing a job, but because they have developed friendships with many of you and are very sad to ‘break up the party,’” the email said. “With anything that has had life, it is very sad to have that life taken away.”

Busby was identified in the email as the owner of BAS. In earlier communications, he was identified as “chief consultant.” It was not immediately clear how he purportedly had ascended from consulting work to ownership.

The site remained online. It now has vanished, however, and has been resolving to a blank page for at least three days. (It might have disappeared earlier.) The site’s server signature is in the United States.

Now, it seems, the death dance is complete — offshore to onshore, and a fade to nothing but white.

But the Biz Ad Splash video, the dire beat of the drum and Fatboy Slim’s pulsating tones remain on YouTube: It’s just that there no longer is anything to sell.

Busby’s simple cure for the world’s economic ills — clicking on ads and introducing others to click on ads — did not work. The extent of Biz Ad Splash member losses is unclear.

Busby, who used the title “Rev.” at least 120 times in a court filing involving Golden Panda last year, was implicated by the SEC in three prime-bank schemes in the 1990s, according to records.