AOL Will Buy TechCrunch, Mike Arrington and All

"It all starts off so well," the blog's founder said after awkwardly embracing his new boss, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong.

mike-arringtonMost executives, when they successfully negotiate a merger, release carefully written press releases in which each party lavishly praises the other and then pretty much leave it at that.

Not so Mike Arrington. When the TechCrunch founder announced the tech blog’s acquisition (actually the acquisition of its holding company, TechCrunch Inc.) by AOL today and then dramatically signed the deal on stage at the TechCruch Disrupt conference, he apparently couldn’t resist closing on a sour note.

“It all starts off so well,” Arrington said, after awkwardly embracing his new boss, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong.

Such acid-tongued asides are par for the course with Arrington, and AOL surely knows what it’s getting into by acquiring him. Indeed, the company has gone out of its way to ensure he remains attached to the blog as long as possible.

“I have a funny idea that I’ll be here at least three years based on a variety of incentives,” he said. Additionally, he praised AOL for agreeing to place no editorial bounds on what TechCrunch may publish.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. TechCrunch Inc.’s network includes MobileCrunch, CrunchGear, TechCrunchIT, GreenTech, TechCrunchTV and CrunchBase, as well as events such as The Disrupt series and The Crunchies Awards. It joins other AOL-owned blogs like Engadget; TUAW, the unofficial Apple weblog; and DownloadSquad.

News of the acquisition caps a very busy couple of days for AOL. On Monday it unveiled a widely anticipated revamp of its Web page design, including a much larger ad format, beginning with placements on StyleList and Moviefone.com.

And this morning the company said it had acquired 5min Media, a video distribution firm. 5min takes video created by others and distributes it among its network of publishers. The company claims a library of more than 200,000 videos from both well-known professional producers (CBS, Scripps) and smaller, independent studios, and a network of 800 partner sites.

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Whitepapers

US Mobile Streaming Behavior
Whitepaper | Mobile

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

5y

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...

View resource
Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups
Whitepaper | Analyzing Customer Data

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

5y

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics f...

Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...

View resource
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people
Whitepaper | Digital Marketing

Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its peopl...

2y

Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...

This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...

View resource
Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy
Report | Digital Transformation

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

1m

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource