How do you know times are booming in the tech sector? Techmeme just became a job board.

To be clear, it will continue to be the go-to source for technology news as it has been for the past several years — but there’s now a new area in the right-hand column devoted to “Who’s hiring in tech”.

Techmeme founder Gabe Rivera writes about the new addition here, noting that “billboards suck” and taking a shot at our parent company, AOL, which has become addicted to putting up billboard touting jobs all over the Bay Area. Obviously, Rivera hopes this will become a new chunk of revenue for his site.

“I think ‘we’re hiring’ is one of the key messages companies want to get out to the industry,” Rivera tells us. “You see it in the publicity stunts. In all the weird sponsorships at SXSW. And of course, the billboards,” he continues.

So does this mean Techmeme will now be more conflicted — certainly a hot topic these days — and put up more news stories about the companies that buy these job spots? “Not more than any other news site that accepts advertising from an array of companies. The only time I mentioned consideration of sponsors to my editorial staff was when I asked them specifically not to give sponsors extra consideration,” Rivera says. Besides, Techmeme already accepted more straight-up advertising anyway.

The companies up there right now did each write their own taglines too! So far, the best:

• Twitter: Less characters; more fulfilling. (Cute.)
• Microsoft: Come as you are. Do what you love. (Is that a Nirvana reference?)
• Square: Come simplify the complex. (True and much needed.)
• StumbleUpon: Invent the future of web discovery. (Bold.)
• Twilio: Come run wild in our geek pasture! (Tempting.)
• Airbnb: Build a galactic marketplace. (Insane?)

Crunchbase

• TECHMEME

Company: Techmeme

Website: techmeme.com

Launch Date: October 16, 2004

Launched in 2005 as Tech.Memeorandum.com, the site that is considered by many as the blogosphere’s daily tech newspaper was later renamed Techmeme (pronounced “tech-meam”). Stories often hit Techmeme days before the New York Times and other newspapers cover them. The site works by constantly checking blogs and other news sites to create a page full of the current most popular tech news links. Its sister sites Memeorandum (politics), WeSmirch (celebrity gossip) and Ballbug (baseball news) all work the same way. Techmeme...

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