It took someone like Tim O’Reilly to finally make TechCrunch stand up and take notice of how frustrating the constant linking to CrunchBase was and still is for their readers. If you are a long time reader of TechCrunch, you would know that traditionally the logo always linked to the company covered in its stories.
Then the all singing all dancing CrunchBase came along and totally changed that policy. Somewhat alienating a large majority of its readers by redirecting them to CrunchBase instead of the companies’ independent website.
After a few noticeable complaints TechCrunch apparently discontinued that policy and instead started distributing a lightweight widget beneath each cover story that enabled users to make an informed decision as to whether or not they visited CrunchBase.
Problem solved? Well not quite. In addition to the widget now embedded in each post, TechCrunch started randomly linking between CrunchBase and the companies’ external website. After awhile it became a lottery as to where you would actually end up after clicking on a company link.
Let’s be honest, we all know why TechCrunch are doing this, where not stupid. But don’t get me wrong either, CrunchBase is a great resource and I fully commend them for making it available to us free of charge. But your readers are your bread and butter, and this embarrassment could have been avoided if you just stuck to your original promise.
Browsing through the comments it looks like the majority are with Tim on this one. Maybe now TechCrunch will add some consistency when linking to CrunchBase, if they do we all have Tim to thank for saving our sanity.
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