I read with interest today about the Macbook AirGate scandal on TechCrunch. Basically it tells a story of how one of their interns, a young guy named Daniel Brusilovsky had allegedly asked for a Macbook Air in return for writing a post about a startup. TechCrunch got wind of this, the intern admitted it and now all posts from the intern have been removed.
Now, as soon as I read this, I thought I may know what post they are referring to. I clearly remember in November last year reading a post on TechCrunch about new tech site TechnoBuffalo. The TechCrunch review stood out to me because (forgive me TechnoBuffalo) TechnoBuffalo is nothing new, exciting or imaginative. It's a tech blog and IMHO an average one at best, certain not newsworthy in any shape, way or form. There are thousands of tech blogs just like it and as far as I know, none have ever graced the pages of TechCrunch. So for those reasons I remember thinking at the time that someone was definitely calling in a favour somewhere as it just stood out a million miles as a post that should never have appeared on TechCrunch. I also remember that lots of TechCrunch readers left similar comments on the blog post itself. It seemed that nobody could understand why the post ever appeared in the first place.
Then today I read about Daniel at TechCrunch and "MacBook AirGate" and the first thing I think of is that TechnoBuffalo post. I wonder...
A quick search of TechCrunch finds that the original TechnoBuffalo post has disappeared. TechCrunch said that they had removed all posts by the intern so its possible that this is one of his. Luckily the Google cache of the original post is still up (gotta love Google). As you will see, the post is written by the intern in question, Daniel Brusilovsky.
Now I'm not saying that Techno Buffalo were the ones who gave Daniel a Macbook Air in return for a review. I have no evidence of this and I'm certainly not making any allegations. I'm simply saying that if you looked at the above evidence you could be forgiven for thinking that was the case.
The problem I have, is not with Techno Buffalo or with Daniel but with TechCrunch. If I, and others (judging by the original comments now sadly deleted, that were made on the post) then why couldn't the TechCrunch editors? Surely TechCrunch has better editorial control in place than that? Especially for junior members of the team and interns. This whole thing wouldn't bother me as much is it wasn't for the fact that TechCrunch position themselves as being impartial and even go so far as accusing others of less than impartial reviews when receiving free products.
At least my bribe posts are clearly labelled :)
UPDATE: John Rettinger from TechnoBuffalo has responded to this post in the comments below, hopefully there is more to come on this story.
What I'm listening to right now: Usher — Little Freak (Feat. Nicki Minaj)
7 Responses to TechCrunch “Macbook AirGate”
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Welcome to my blog. My name is Kieron Donoghue and I am the founder of ShareMyPlaylists.com, ContentNow.co.uk and some other stuff. I have no idea why I'm blue on this photo though but I like it!
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Heh! You’d make a great detective…
Agreed that TechCrunch are scapegoating here, if the article met their standards it should remain up, regardless of how it was “paid for”!
Unfortunately this is not the only post which is a bit dubious. I had exactly the same thoughts when I read this post only recently.
WooThemes Expands To ExpressionEngine.
It raises questions about who approves content on the site.
I like the TechCruch getting some of their own. I think its time to hold them to account as they love finger pointing…. will their glass house stand up?
Do people really think that this kind of stuff does not go on every day and that gifts are not issues in return for positive posts. The issue here is this 17 year old boy has told to many people about his exploits and as such has been hung out to dry to save face. His downfall .. naivety
My name is Jon Rettinger, and I run TechnoBuffalo. I was as shocked as you are to hear of Daniel’s egregious and morally corrupt actions. I can assure you that TechnoBuffalo has always conducted itself ethically and is not the start-up in question. Judging by Daniel’s response, the truth will come out. I actually have each one of my conversations with Daniel documented for reference if you would like. He reached out to me originally, having heard about TechnoBuffalo through my YouTube channel (jon4lakers).
I consider myself to have decent moral compass, and beginning a business venture on such a sour note would never sit well with me. I’d really like the opportunity to clear TechnoBuffalo’s name.
Reputation is so important to any web sites success, and insinuations can cause irreparable damage. It is my sincerest hope that the perpetrating company is revealed as soon as possible.
Jon
To be honest, I ‘feel’ it happens everywhere. Its just the person who writes the articles actually own the sites and authorises the inclusion. Maybe its all part of the affiliate industry?
For instance, there are articles published on here.org.uk that ‘feel like’ they are paid inclusion, or are just self promotion.
Peter, TechCrunch isn’t an affiliate site so not sure what your point is there. As I said above I certainly write posts if people send me cool sruff and I like it, but those posrs are clearly labelled as such. And yes, loads of self promotion, after all it is my blog. But paid inclusion? No, I turn down offers every week for paid links etc.