This exceptionally annoying trend is not even limited to Techrunch but is becoming more common on other sites too. I started to avoid Techrunch links for this reason as well.

In addition, does anyone have an issue with font resizing on Techrunch? When I zoom in to the text it becomes pixelated and unreadable. I end up being forced to read tiny text at original site resolution.

Horrible UX. I expect more tech savvy from Techrunch.