Internet ad provider DoubleClick and online financial publication TheStreet.com bumped heads over a story that appeared on TheStreet's Web site last week.
The story said DoubleClick had admitted to issuing a misleading press release that said it had the third-largest “Internet advertising reach” in April, behind America Online and Yahoo. DoubleClick said it based its statement on numbers provided by market researcher Media Metrix. TheStreet also reported that Media Metrix had disavowed DoubleClick's release.
However, a DoubleClick spokeswoman said that people in the story were misquoted and that Media Metrix hadn't disavowed the release. Media Metrix also issued a statement supporting DoubleClick. Erle Norton, senior news editor at TheStreet.com, stood behind its story, although it admitted to making one mistake.
“We reported that DoubleClick didn't disclose its April figures,” he said. “They actually did. We posted the correction, but they only published final rankings not the figures.”
