[Foundation-l] fundraiser suggestion

[MZMcBride]

Brian J Mingus wrote:
> I guess nobody cares if you top post or bottom post here, but it does get
> confusing when the two are mixed in the same thread.

I care. You shouldn't be top-posting or bottom-posting. Use inline posting:
https://wiki.toolserver.org/view/Mailing_list_etiquette

Brian J Mingus (also) wrote:
> Firstly, this is probably just an experiment to see if it draws more
> donations. If it doesn't, they probably won't use the tactic in the future.

The issue isn't whether it's a experiment or even whether it's successful.
The issue is one of principles. Animated banner ads aren't acceptable.

> Second, if WMF doesn't meet the fundraising goal they will have to cut
> something from the budget. If it's so very important to you that they not
> try advertising techniques that are mildly annoying to some users you should
> start by suggesting projects that won't get funded or people that won't get
> hired or servers that won't get bought, etc.

This is a false dilemma. The money needed to keep Wikipedia and other
Wikimedia projects running and ad-free for the next year was raised _weeks_
ago. It's against Wikimedia's principles to use obnoxious or misleading ads
to raise money in this manner.

> Third, adverts are turned off for non-logged in users. Try logging in.

As the vast majority of page views are anonymous, this is largely a moot
point. Yes, logging in will suppress the banners on an individual level.
That doesn't make it acceptable to have bad banners for most of the
readership.

MZMcBride