Arrington's ethical wall comes down

Did Michael Arrington really think nobody would notice that he just lost his business partner? Jennifer Rice is no longer listed as head of marketing at Techcrunch, the small but influential tech news site that Arrington founded. Arrington, who recently left the Valley for a two-month rest at his parents' house, yesterday disclosed his main writer was quitting, with public love all round, but, strangely, no mention of Rice's departure. For some speculation:

Rice's role went well beyond marketing. Arrington said: Sales and editorial are now completely separate - Jennifer Rice handles any money coming into the company and I have nothing to say about it, other than a veto if I don't like the service... Other than that, there is a complete ethical wall. Um, not any more, according to the Techcrunch website.

Now, I'm sure this is all just temporary. Salespeople leave. Founders have to step in to the breach. It happens. But, first, why not at least create a separate email address, how about advertising@techcrunch.com, so that the confusion between editorial and advertising is less obvious? Arrington, publisher of a website which can make or break Silicon Valley startups, is naturally subject to charges of favoritism, or worse. Appearances do matter.

Second, Rice's departure does make one wonder about Techcrunch's supposedly booming advertising revenue. Salespeople leave, yes, but not so quickly if they're doing well. In Business 2.0's Blogging For Dollars, Michael Arrington, photographed unwisely with a wad of bills, claimed $60,000 a month in ad revenue, ten times the level at the start of the year. The site charges $10,000 a month for each of six sponsor slots, so that would seem to add up.

But, take a look at the ads on the site right now: Edgeio is a company Arrington's involved in; it's unlikely that Wild Apricot, which helps non-profits, is paying; and I doubt whether all the other sponsors are paying full whack. The skyscraper ad is supplied by Google, rather than a direct client. So it's unlikely that unit is paying more than $3.00 per thousand impressions, or at Techcrunch's current traffic levels, about $200 per day.

None of this is exceptional. Sites, even popular ones run freebie ads; remnant inventory sells, even now, for a fraction of list price; And it is hard for smaller publishers to get noticed by media buyers. Techcrunch will, if Arrington keeps his head, do fine as a publishing business. Just not to the timescale that he touted to Business 2.0, and not that which someone like Jennifer Rice could deliver. (Anyone hear from Jennifer, by the way?)

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