On 11/03/2008, Geoffrey Plourde geo.plrd@yahoo.com wrote:
Ads detract from the objectivity. Also, it could lead to a pain with the IRS.
If you don't read the ad (we're talking about google-style ads here, I imagine) it cannot have any effect on objectivity.
I don't know about the tax situation, but there's no reason in principle why Wikimedia (or a successor organisation) should remain subject to not-for-profit rules. Google is a corporation but the IRS doesn't seem to have killed it yet. Transition to commercial status might be a bit weird, but it's doable because the content is all under the GFDL.