Wikipedia risks getting left behind over anti-advertising bias

06 June 2007

That this ideological bias against advertising is so prevalent amongst Wikipedia's core contributors is worrying and poses questions about the impartiality of much of the site's content. For the most part, Wikipedia's rule that articles must be written from a neutral point of view is observed; however, arguments regularly lead to the deletion of facts or entire pages. If the coterie which is responsible for so much of Wikipedia's policy and editorial processes is in one mind about the ethics of advertising, it poses serious questions about what other controversial views they share and how this affects the reliability of other entries.

Without this hardcore group of users, the massive improvements that have taken place on the site in recent years - including better accuracy and the citing of sources - would not have been possible. But they should not be able to hold the site to ransom; since its inception in 2001, the online encyclopaedia has barely changed and still lacks the rich video and audio content which is now so popular online.

Some third-party sites are already monetising Wikipedia's content, which can be reproduced because it is licensed under a free documentation license. Tscholars.com, an online encyclopaedia, copies Wikipedia articles and sells targeted Google text ads alongside them, as do several other rivals. Text ads do not need to affect the content or its impartiality as they are placed automatically, without any human involvement. It would also be possible to block the commercials which worry Wikimedians the most, such as those which sell ?miracle cures? or drugs.

For now, Wells is hoping to fund Wikipedia's expansion with his commercial venture, Wikia. This site licenses the same software which powers Wikipedia to other online communities so they can create niche content on entertainment, gaming, computing, sports and health. Federated media then sells targeted adverts which are linked to these niche interests on behalf of Wikia.

Wikia is also about to move into the lucrative search engine market, currently dominated by Yahoo! and Google. Wells believes he can use the same collaborative technology which has made Wikipedia a success to take 5% of the market before the end of the year.

But one thing is clear. Ruthlessly relevant, targeted and discreet advertising has been a major ingredient in the success of Web 2.0. Unless Wikipedia can create new streams of commercial revenue to expand and adapt, it will get left behind.