J.L.W.S. The Special One wrote:
I remember reading a report in the Signpost which says
that Wikipedia
could earn over $500 million if it used contextual ads.
Please, if you're going to cite my work in making the controversial
argument that Wikipedia should carry advertising, at least get your
information right. The Signpost did not report "that Wikipedia could
earn over $500 million if it used contextual ads." The Signpost reported
about some people doing back-of-the-napkin analysis, and they didn't
come up with $500 million in revenue either. Even the biggest public
booster of such advertising, the inimitable Jason Calacanis, was only
plugging for $100 million as the annual revenue potential.
Perhaps you've gotten confused over the critical distinction between
income and valuation? Or if you were relying solely on memory, please
avoid that bad habit (responsible for quite a few Wikipedia errors),
especially when the facts require such a trivial effort to check.
--Michael Snow