Wikipedia needs to stop begging and find a viable business model. It may not be easy, but it should be possible.
I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
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Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mostly agree. On the other hand, I would block any ad they posted, so I'm not sure how much my opinion should count.
Honest question, how would you have them get paid for your use of their service?
Someone (doctors, lawyers, corporations, someone) with a lot of money is willing to fork it over to Wikipedia for something that isn't available right now, and they should probably figure out what that something is.
Begging all the time is a bit silly for the 5th largest site on the internet.
Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#13Given that it costs less than $20 million to run Wikipedia (cite: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/a/ac/FINAL_...), that seems completely attainable without needing to change the nature of Wikipedia by introducing advertising.
A lone rich donor could cover the budget for an entire year, and many people who could afford that wouldn't even be mentioned in Wikipedia, so there would be little opportunity for any conflict of interest. Even if someone high profile donated a large sum that would only be one profile to monitor for any potential bias.
Here's why I think ads would be a terrible idea:
_________
ADVERTISING
Pros:
More Money
Cons:
Integrity possibly compromised
Contributors might leave
Readers might trust Wikipedia less
-----------------
DONORS
Pros:
Maintains editorial independence
Maintains trust of readers and contributors
Cons:
Harder to raise money
__________
Ads are a lazy solution. I can't think of a single benefit to Wikipedia or its users other than "it would be so easy to meet the budget."
Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#14I don't get the reluctance to use advertising. Wikipedia could place one small, unobtrusive text ad on each page and they would have more than enough money to operate their business and pay their employees what they deserve. If there's money left over, they could offer scholarships or make charitable donations. I don't think that placing small ads on a page in an effort to keep information free and prosperous amounts…
As if you need to buy ad space to put propaganda on Wikipedia.
Those who know, they don't need to be told. Those who don't, they will probably fight / downvote you because they think that if something has so much positive, then how it could contain any negative? That's ok, our brains are hardwired to simplify things. There have been numerous studies, and numerous discussions e.g. on Slashdot, on this topic, and the truth about the bad about Wikipedia is truly horrific. But I'm an optimist, I believe they/we will deal with that at some point.
Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#15Fortunately, they don't accept advertisements from corporations, and are thus uncorrupted by the donations from said corporations.
Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#16Interesting dilemma I suppose, I think what they are worried about is the slippery slope, Wikipedia is used to this frugal operation where theoretically they have minimal pressure and influence as far as what is published on their site. As others have pointed out, they could easily run ads on just a small number of pages and start raking in cash. They could even limit themselves to "good" or "neutral" ads, those that meet certain guidelines (no ads from questionable companies / for questionable products, etc) but then what happens? They get used to having this cash flow, they hire more people, get nicer offices and then there could be pressure to start bringing in more money, lowering the standard of ads. I think its more a testament to the beliefs of the people who run Wikipedia as to the power of human greed and corruption as they seem to feel that an infusion of excess cash could put Wikipedia on a negative path.
Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#17"We don’t run ads because doing so would sacrifice our independence. The site is not and should never be a propaganda tool." I really don't understand wikipedia's continued hesitation to accept advertising--nor the argument that it would sacrifice their independence--anyone can edit it already, so I question whether sponsorship needs to have any impact on article content whatsoever. What's the problem with having a b…
so, this is just hypothetical, but lets say McDonald's ends up having some major scandal (say, like Enron, but not so bad that they go out of business), this scandal ends up being well known and there's a Wikipedia article written about it, as there is for the Enron scandal (Google "Enron Scandal wiki" to check for yourself). So, don't you think maybe McDonald's would put a little pressure on Wikipedia to censor or remove this page? I think its naive to think not, and the result would be censorship and suppression of information that would be available if Wikipedia was standing on its own and not propped up by this specific company in question.
Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#18"We don’t run ads because doing so would sacrifice our independence. The site is not and should never be a propaganda tool." I really don't understand wikipedia's continued hesitation to accept advertising--nor the argument that it would sacrifice their independence--anyone can edit it already, so I question whether sponsorship needs to have any impact on article content whatsoever. What's the problem with having a b…
Advertising not only influences content, it influences the perception of content. If you see a "Wikipedia is brought to you today by McDonalds..." banner and then read the entry on McDonalds, a presumably intelligent reader without extensive knowledge of the inner workings of Wikipedia might wonder if there's some kind of editorial influence on the content.
Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#19Not sure which would be less annoying - a few Adsense links clearly marked and off on the side, or the ginormous banner and somewhat overwrought copy.
Re: I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.
#20Wikipedia needs to stop begging and find a viable business model. It may not be easy, but it should be possible. irony: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_begging
They have the same viable business model as public television and other charities. That reminds me, I need to donate all the charitable contributions that I've budgeted for the year soon, public television is the only one of contributions I've remembered to make this year.