On 4/23/06, Tony Bruguier tony.bruguier@gmail.com wrote:
Hi,
I'm new to this list, so please forgive me if I mess up. There's been some talk about advertisement on wikipedia or not. Why not make it optional, so that each user decides if he/she wants to see the advertisement? That way, users can "support" wikipedia or not. I don't think that'd be a sell out.
If someone wants to implement an "opt in" ad feature, I have no real opposition to it, but it strikes me as looking for love in the wrong place. The tiny fraction of pageviews that would be ad-enabled does not, in my belief, make this a significant revenue stream.
I remain opposed to anything but an "opt in" model for ads unless our existing fundraising methods fail us. We've learned a lot during the last fundraising drive (e.g., donation targets are necessary, appeals and other emotional or interesting messages increase the incentive to donate), and I'll be interested to see how the next one goes.
Erik