[Foundation-l] Optional advertisement on wikipedia

[Erik Moeller]

On 4/23/06, Tony Bruguier <tony.bruguier at 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