Lila Tretikov <lila@...> writes:
I would like to expose this more, maybe after this crunch. Just keep in mind that it takes time to anonymize and process -- a time that is otherwise spent on optimizing or collaborating. One bucket of resources, many demands... and I'd like to keep us as lean as we are :)
You have a community that's upset because they believe the fundraising banners are causing long-lasting harm to Wikimedia's brand. The analytics team can probably spend a few hours handling this. They aren't allocated to the fundraiser.
If it's so labor intensive to go through this data, then it's likely not being actively used to make decisions. At minimum the methodology that's being used can be shared.
Below is a soundbite I got from many notes I get from our donors, this is not unusual about this banner:
*"...banner on wikipedia today motivated me to donate for the first time. I think the increased size properly conveyed the importance of the donations to running the site. Previous banners were a bit too polite or subtle to get me thinking."*
Here's the results of a quick twitter search:
"Every year, the Wikipedia begging banners get bigger and bigger, now it's 3/4 of the screen"
"Wikipedia's donation banners are so huge now that they actually startle me when they load."
".@Wikipedia might as well use their obtrusive donation banners as ad space. Or whenever they are running low on funds, enable ads."
"every time wikipedia asks for money the banners get bigger and bigger"
"Holy shit, @wikipedia, just have done with it and put ads up—these donation banners are awful."
"remember when wikipedia donation banners used to take up only 5% of the page"
"I WOULD donate to @Wikipedia but their donation banners are just too damn small. I can never spot the darn things!"
"I hate to say this but @Wikipedia's "Donate !" banners are very annoying. Especially when you've already donated & don't like to feel forced"
"fuck your giant ass banner ads, @wikipedia. i want my previous donations back."
"@sillyredfox Those ads are overly obtrusive. Never giving to @Wikipedia until they're toned down."
"I'd rather let Wikipedia mine bitcoin on my machine than be assaulted with their "these aren't ads" fundraiser ads."
"@codinghorror Considering Wikipedia have 90 mil in cash in the bank, the ads have an oddly desperate tone."
"Dear Wikipedia users: To protect our independence, we'll never run ads...except the huge one begging for cash you'll see on EVERY PAGE."
There's so, so many more and I only included results that were relevant to the size or copy.
There's a theme of this search, too. There's not a single positive thing being said about them. I used to see people joking about the Jimmy banners, encouraging people to donate. The only jokes I see now are at Wikipedia's expense.
- Ryan