AdForce slides after losing GeoCities' business

Shares of AdForce Inc. (Nasdaq: ADFC) fell 8 1/8 to 20 13/16, or 28 percent, on Wednesday after the company lost GeoCities as a client. GeoCities represented 17 percent of Adforce's revenue.

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) acquired GeoCities and has its own advertisement server.

In regulatory filings, AdForce said it may lose GeoCities as a customer. AdForce went public in early May, doubling in its first day trading.

The next shoe to drop could be Netscape, an AdForce customer that could use parent America Online Inc.'s (NYSE: AOL) ad server. However, the outcome of the Netscape deal is less certain, since AOL has a 2.5 million share stake in AdForce.

AOL and its affiliates have access to AdForce technology on a royalty-free basis on a perpetual basis. The deal with AOL gives AdForce access to demographic data on AOL's users for a period of three years. AdForce may have more to worry about dealing with the terms of AOL's agreement, which could prove costly if AdForce doesn't meet certain goals.

Other clients of AdForce are closely held AdSmart, which bought 2Can Media, and Modem Media. Poppe Tyson Inc. (Nasdaq: MMPT).