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For Those Who Use Wikipedia...

by copystud
22 replies
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I just made a donation. I did it because I use the site on a daily basis and it seems like the right thing to do. Hopefully some of you out there will feel the same way.

If everyone that used it donated a dollar, they wouldn't have to serve up that annoying banner every time you visit the site either:

https://donate.wikimedia.org/w/index...gn=spontaneous

Karma to all of you who spare at least a dollar. I'm not affiliated with them in any way; the banner just happened to get to me today and I imagine they're lots of writers and marketers on here who use Wikipedia every day like me.
#pay to play #wikipedia donation
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    I used to donate to them. I never will again.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
      I don't understand Wikipedia's aversion to advertising. They state that they will never run ads in order to "protect their independence", but I think they have it backwards. The last time I checked... more profit = more independence, not less!

      As the 6th most popular site in the world, they must get millions of unique visitors per day. If they put a small Adsense block on the right side of every page, can you even image what kind of revenue that would generate?? And I doubt that 95% of their visitors would even care. It's absolutely crazy that they don't do something like that.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by Michael Ten View Post

      I used to donate to them. I never will again.
      The obvious question after a comment like that is ... Why not?
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      Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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      • Profile picture of the author copystud
        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        The obvious question after a comment like that is ... Why not?
        Lol. I was reminded of how the gang on the show Big Bang Theory react when Sheldon tempts people with vagaries, then someone asks "why" or "why not" tempting a reply from the genius.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kay King
          I made a donation a couple days ago as I always do when they are having their fund drive.

          I like the absence of ads and I like the site for the most part. I use it a lot just to satisfy my own curiosity or for research for things I'm writing.

          If a site is useful to me I have no problem supporting that site with a donation once or twice a year.

          kay
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    IMO Wiki needs to be selling Ad space to support the site or take the site down.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave Patterson
    They have their own set of principles and have stayed true to who they are. Doesn't matter what anybody else thinks, or what somebody else would do.

    That's something to be admired...is it not?
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      Originally Posted by Dave Patterson View Post

      They have their own set of principles and have stayed true to who they are. Doesn't matter what anybody else thinks, or what somebody else would do.

      That's something to be admired...is it not?
      Whilst that's definately true (I admire anyone who does things differently) they also need to be able to handle the consequences of their actions too but it appears they are having difficulties in doing that...
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    • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Dave Patterson View Post

      They have their own set of principles and have stayed true to who they are. Doesn't matter what anybody else thinks, or what somebody else would do.

      That's something to be admired...is it not?
      Yes! Yes! Yes!
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Dave Patterson View Post

      They have their own set of principles and have stayed true to who they are. Doesn't matter what anybody else thinks, or what somebody else would do.

      That's something to be admired...is it not?

      Actually they haven't stayed true to monetizing the site, they've been pushing the donation header pretty hard for the last month or so.

      Begging for donations is pretty much the same end result as selling banner space.
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      • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
        Banned
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        Actually they haven't stayed true to monetizing the site, they've been pushing the donation header pretty hard for the last month or so.

        Begging for donations is pretty much the same end result as selling banner space.
        Wikipedia has been doing these donation drives on and off since at least 2008. Some people think it's fine...others not so much.
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        • Profile picture of the author yukon
          Banned
          Originally Posted by ForumGuru View Post

          Wikipedia has been doing these donation drives on and off since at least 2008. Some people think it's fine...others not so much.
          Lol, I know, but the donation headers keep getting bigger & bigger, & bigger...

          They might as well slap a paid banner in the header & call it a day.
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          • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
            Banned
            Originally Posted by yukon View Post

            Lol, I know, but the donation headers keep getting bigger & bigger, & bigger...

            They might as well slap a paid banner in the header & call it a day.
            LoL..unfortunately it may come to that. Many were upset back in the day...no doubt...others were supposedly blind to the banner. :p

            Wikipedia volunteers reject dishonest donation drive

            Wikipedia’s new plea for donations stirs skepticism | Ars Technica

            They say they ran something like $3.6 million in expenses in 2007 and $6 million in 2008.

            $20 million raised during this 46 day drive....

            Wikipedia Donations Raise $20 Million In Annual Fundraising Drive

            ...fiscal year expenses ending in June 2012 were expected to be near 28.3 million they said.
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            • Profile picture of the author Kay King
              The first two links from 2008 are outdated. In one it complains that the previous "banner" was replaced with a personal "plea" from the Wiki owner. Since then he's returned to the banner - but people still complain.

              The last link is a decent article and explains a bit about the huge scope of Wiki as a site and the expense of keeping it updated. So the owner lives well? Isn't that the goal of everyone here? You can do it - just build a site with over 20 million pages in 280 languages and request donations in a banner at the top of the page every now and then.

              In the complaint threads people love to diss Wiki and claim they don't use it. Obviously they do to some extent or they wouldn't know the banner was on the site.:rolleyes:
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              • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
                Banned
                Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

                The first two links from 2008 are outdated. In one it complains that the previous "banner" was replaced with a personal "plea" from the Wiki owner. Since then he's returned to the banner - but people still complain.

                The last link is a decent article and explains a bit about the huge scope of Wiki as a site and the expense of keeping it updated. So the owner lives well? Isn't that the goal of everyone here? You can do it - just build a site with over 20 million pages in 280 languages and request donations in a banner at the top of the page every now and then.

                In the complaint threads people love to diss Wiki and claim they don't use it. Obviously they do to some extent or they wouldn't know the banner was on the site.:rolleyes:
                Yeah...I posted the two dated links to show that the complaining started way back in the day and has not stopped through the massive expansion. I have owned and operated as many as 160 domains at a time... not a massive number but thay are certainly not junk marketing domains --> they are organic content authority type domains and I never used banners or ads on any of my sites until one month ago when I finally added adsense to ONE of my domains. Yeah, I'm in the image business so of course pictures were/are for sale on parts of many of the sites but I sell/sold them museum style with no visible ads anywhere --> but that may change soon as I find myself needing to generate more revenue just like Jimmy!

                That said I don't think the banners always appeared on all pages, and as I clicked around to 10 or more pages just now I did not get any banners popping up at all. IMHO not much difference between a regular donation banner and a personal plea banner...if you want to read Jimmy's plea you can do here.

                Donate - Wikimedia Foundation

                FTR I posted an earlier Yes! Yes! Yes! and I am certainly not against a call for donations. Below are a few Wikimedia fundraising links that you may find interesting:

                http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundr...Banner_testing

                http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundr...t_Updates/June

                http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundr...A_Breakthrough

                http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/...iserStatistics
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Not running ads is their way of keeping the site from becoming too commercialized. Donations keep it voluntary, and a vote for keeping the site active. If nobody likes it well enough to support it, it gets shut down. Pretty simple idea to me.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tyler S
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      Not running ads is their way of keeping the site from becoming too commercialized. Donations keep it voluntary, and a vote for keeping the site active. If nobody likes it well enough to support it, it gets shut down. Pretty simple idea to me.
      I couldn't agree more. I have donated because of this.
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  • Profile picture of the author michael26a
    I think its so weird that Wikipedia are asking for donations. They are ranking in the top 5 results for basically every single keyword (especially all of the big money terms). If any site should be making loads of money, it should be Wikipedia. There is obviously something wrong with their business model if they own most of the Internet's traffic, yet they have to ask for donations to make a profit lol Why don't they start their own banner advertising program? They would absolutely clean up!
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    • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
      Originally Posted by michael26a View Post

      There is obviously something wrong with their business model if they own most of the Internet's traffic, yet they have to ask for donations to make a profit lol
      They're a non-profit organisation. What part of "non" don't you understand. The donations cover the costs of running the site, including salaries.

      If they accept advertising, they become beholden to whoever the advertisers are. "Who pays the piper calls the tune".
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  • Profile picture of the author copystud
    When I donated, I mentioned how silly it was to me that they weren't willing to at least put adsense somewhere onsite, as they only need to create a page (not necessarily with content) and they immediately rank for that term.

    I think it's silly for them to leave those potential profits on the table, but they're steadfast in their mission, so I'm not against donating to keep the site afloat. There's simply too much good information available.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    I'd bet money a good many who complain about them asking for donations would also be the first to complain if they closed their site. It's a lamentable human peculiarity that we sometimes don't appreciate something until it's gone.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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  • Profile picture of the author James Andy
    It is pretty sad, I think everyone should contribute with wikipedia. This is the best site for information.
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