[Foundation-l] No, even a couple of Google ads on each page would be a fa...

[Fred Bauder]

> On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 12:07 PM,  <WJhonson at aol.com> wrote:
>> I'm also skeptical that manually placed and
>> manually monitored,  internet advertising even pays for the wages of
>> the worker.
>>
>> This is why Google uses automagic.  And why everyone else does as well.
>
> Doesn't Google lets the advertiser pick which searches they want to
> appear on?  Is that "manual", or "automagic"?  Would letting the
> advertiser pick which articles they want to appear on be "manual", or
> "automagic"?
>
> On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 5:57 PM, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at fairpoint.net>
> wrote:
>> If automagic worked, I would see ads for stuff I might have at least a
>> passing interest in; I seldom do. But if I'm looking at an article on a
>> book or an author I might well take a look at an ad page linked from
>> it.
>> I buy lots of books. If nothing else it would save a step or two.
>
> With support for location targeting you could do even better.  There
> are physicians who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on
> location targeted Google adwords, and they do so because the revenue
> they're generating from it is more than the cost.
>
> I think this is all pretty much a nonstarter, though.  Between the
> lack of support for ads in the community and the difficult hurdles
> that would need to be navigated to not get in trouble with the IRS, I
> don't see ads ever coming to Wikimedia Foundation websites.

Yes, revenue would have to be used for nonprofit purposes, either ours or
others, or else.

I am aware from experience here and elsewhere that even the most obvious
initiatives can be futile. That is not a reason to not to advance them,
repeatedly.

Fred