Wikipedia may look like a possible pot of gold for all the advertisers, big or small, elite or neophyte but for Jimmy Wales it’s a different proposition. His ad sense is unconventional and probably more charitable in nature.
In an interview with UK Times Online he noted ‘There is a great deal of resistance to the idea (ad support), both from the community and from me. But at some point questions are going to be raised over the amount of money we are turning down.’
So, we thought from now onwards amidst little protest from volunteers Wikipedia that enjoys more than 2.5 million page views per month will accept online advertising as he said, ‘how the charitable mission could be supported by money raised through advertising.” And will thus be able to fulfill its aim of delivering free online encyclopedia to all in the world in their own languages.
But today James Wales commented in Clikz, ‘There are no plans of any kind, no announcement, no change in stance, what I said is something I’ve been saying for five years. We don’t believe we need advertising in order to survive. My view currently is that we’re much better off without the advertising. It’s better for our mission. It’s better for our fundraising.”
And again we have this quote, ‘We have never said there would absolutely never be ads on Wikipedia. The question is going to arise as to whether we could better pursue our charitable mission with the additional money.’
I am puzzled.
Do you have any clue?
