TechCrunch Rumor Control Failure Brings Out the Torches

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TechCrunch is feeling the heat from Erick Schonfeld’s story on Last.fm handing over data to the RIAA. Which got a pretty harsh denial, and to TechCrunch’s defense, they did update the post with more and more information. Most people are pissed, however, and rightly so. The story was false, and although it is presented as a rumor, it could be hurting Last.fm. As it were, I think TechCrunch is taking a bigger hit, in credibility, despite a surprising defensive post from Duncan Riley. See also Matthew Ingrams post on the topic, pretty sober as well. For more, check out Techmeme.

How much has this hurt TechCrunch, a blog with a lot of haters in the first place, and what could they have done differently? Do share your thoughts in the comments.

Online Giants’ Ad Growth Halts

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TechCrunch mashed together the online advertising revenues of the big 4, being Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL, for the third quarter. The result? Just 0.6% growth, which is still some $50 million increase, but pale in comparison. Read Erick Schonfeld’s post for graphs and more. Also, don’t miss the blog networks roundtable for some more bloggish thoughts on the current financial situation.

Which Facebook application developer is making more than $1m monthly?

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At Allfacebook, Nick O’Neill claims that at least one Facebook application developer is making more than $1m/month, but won’t say who it is:

There’s a pretty well known secret among top Facebook application developers: one developer is generating over $1 million a month. Who is that developer exactly? Well, most people won’t talk about it and after some prodding around we’ve narrowed down the suspects. We aren’t going to post them though because ultimately it doesn’t matter who the individual is. All that matters is that a top application that is used for entertainment purposes is generating over $1 million a month.

So who is it? [Read more…]