The Triumph of SEO: The Wikipedia homepage can also advertise

　　

Just think, if you can in the current Alexa traffic ranked sixth Wikipedia on the advertising, it is not to make a big profit? But it is clear that Wikipedia prefers to take the trouble to call on people to raise money for them, and not to allow businesses to advertise on their web pages, so That kind of wishful thinking is not so good to play. So, if you want to advertise on Wikipedia, is that really a no??—— who said no! " Input 50,000, return 2 million "!

How is the advertisement sold on the wiki page?

It was the former chairman of the British Wikimedia Foundation that was calling for clients in a "50,000 Return 2 Million" banner. At the end of September, he announced his resignation because he had been questioned about selling ads on the wiki home page. Roger Bamkin, one of the trustees of the British Media Foundation, also notes in his resume on his LinkedIn page a PR consultant for a company that can generate high returns for its clients.

So how does Roger Bamkin, who has a dual identity, sell ads on Wikipedia?

In simple terms, Gibraltar (British dependencies) is Roger Bamkin's corporate client, while in Bamkin's British media Foundation in August 2011, in the Wikipedia English homepage, "You Know" (Did you know ...) column, you can link to the Gibraltar entries unexpectedly in one months appeared 17 times more. You know, Wikipedia's homepage is up to 8 million a day, and it's quite rare to repeat the same entry at such a high frequency. So, based on the various associations behind the matter, the observer had to question Roger Bamkin: He was trying to use his position in Wikipedia as a personal benefit.

It is reported that the Gibraltar Tourism bureau has indeed made headlines in its independent newspaper about its promotion of the region in Wikipedia. “...... Clive Finlayson (Gibraltar Museum Heritage Division director) suggested that the Gibraltar packaging as a tourism product on Wikipedia to promote, and then the tourism bureau to put this idea into action, everyone is sure that the investment will be a resounding victory. "At the same time, the tourism board also said that the" Gibraltar Wikipedia (Gibraltarpedia) project has invested 1 million of pounds of money. While there is no indication that the funds have flowed to the UK's Wikimedia Foundation, this has certainly confirmed the observer's skepticism from another side.

Senior Wikipedia editor also soliciting?

In a number of queries, the "Gibraltar Wiki advertising incident" also involved with Roger Bamkin as "resident Wiki (wikipedian-in-residence) senior Wiki editor maximillion Klein." He has also been Conflict by a conflict of interest in this matter (interest). To be the "resident Wiki" Klein and Bamkin, they are arguably a bit of a high weight among Wikipedia editors. At the same time, because they are such a senior identity, in the promotion of Wikipedia's glam (Galleries,libraries,archives & Museums) project, they also bring convenience, because they are responsible for the relevant agencies and organizations to contact.

There is power, such as in the exercise of a slight deviation, naturally easy to produce corruption. According to Wikipedia, if there is a conflict of interest, "resident Wiki" will not be able to participate in the operation of the project, but also do not allow them to edit the relevant agencies with their own pages. But senior editor Klein did not make such a withdrawal in the event.

At the same time, in Klein's own consulting firm Untrikiwiki Page, he has publicized his SEO consulting services, suggesting that the company can use Wikipedia as a powerful source of SEO. "A positive Wikipedia article is a priceless SEO: It's almost guaranteed to be in the top three of goggle," Untrikiwiki said earlier in the paper. Surprisingly, the benefits of writing an entry for Wikipedia are not being used well enough, which is a reminder of the lack of experience in this area. ...... (but) with this experience, we are able to navigate the intricacies of Wikipedia in a variety of ways. We have over eight years of experience, edited more than 10,000 entries, and have a number of relationships with the Wikimedia community. We wholeheartedly provide you with a full range of Wikipedia services. ”

　　

Can you also advertise through Wikipedia?

The Wikimedia Foundation, which organizes Wikipedia and other projects, is a nonprofit, and its chief executive, Jimmy, was asked by "Bamkin clients and the British Wikimedia Foundation" to say: "Board members of each branch, and public officials of charitable organizations associated with Wikipedia. , it would be inappropriate to buy a client's money in exchange for a place where they can appear on the Wikipedia homepage or other pages. ”

As a result, such "very inappropriate", also forced the trustee of the British chapter Bamkin resignation.

Although neither Bamkin nor Klein explicitly denies that their clients are Gibraltar, it is said that most people in the UK Branch board have expressed confidence and adopted a tolerant attitude as both have firmly denied that they have violated the conflict of interest rules.

It is precisely because of the Wikimedia Foundation's consistent tolerance and its lack of regulation on such issues that it makes people wonder: does that mean that people or organizations will be able to advertise on Wikipedia in the future?

In December of last year, PR agency Bell Pottinger was found to be using at least 10 different accounts to edit more than 1000 times to help his clients remove negative information on Wikipedia, adding positive content. Although Jimmy also criticized the times, the whole thing could only end with the cancellation of those accounts.

　　

Generally speaking, if you want to "black others" on Wikipedia, this is basically difficult.

To give a simple example, not long ago, the media reported that the 2012 U.S. presidential election of the Republican nominee Mitt Romney's Wikipedia page was listed as "half protected" because of its high level of involvement in editing. Even today, this state is "half protected" and is not expected to be lifted until after the election is over and after some time. As a result, Wikipedia is sticking to its editorial guidelines, or a set of tools.

If you take a closer look at the various editorial guidelines and guidelines outlined in Wikipedia, you will find that they all elaborate on their principles and means of protecting neutrality. Acts such as "continuous advertising or self propaganda in the text" are classified as "advertising sabotage" by Wikipedia. It also provides tools for verification, rapid deletion, blocking and page protection, tracking editorial history, and so on to ensure that the principles are implemented.

But then again, it's a cautionary tale that the flaws in the Wikimedia Foundation's internal management and the unwritten rules of dealing with it can have a lot of bad effects. Jimmy, the founder of Wikipedia, certainly wants every member of the foundation to uphold Wikipedia's purposes as he does, but not everyone is earning as much money as he did in the early part of his life, and will be dedicated to the Internet encyclopedia. In the face of the temptation of rights, members of power naturally have a "human weakness", and the breeding of corruption is increasing. So, in the final analysis, still have to have a sound mechanism rules and so on to hold these lines. I hope the Wikimedia Foundation can learn from this lesson! (Compile: @ Liang Qing)

Article Source: ReadWriteWeb