On 10/26/07, Sage Ross <ragesoss+wikipedia(a)gmail.com> wrote:
But I also think that switching to Google search (with
ads) would be
much less likely to raise red flags with users, compared to article
ads. After all, they are used to seeing ads in the context of search;
it would all seems part and parcel of using faster and more relevant
Google search (and/or MSN or Yahoo! or Ask). Most users sophisicated
enough to worry about ads and revenue streams can also appreciate the
functional difference between Wikipedia's current search and what an
integrated commercial engine could do.
Some quick arguments against:
* Google doesn't exactly have the greatest privacy track record. Right
now it's possible to do any kind of full-text search without fear of
contributing to some eternal profile about yourself that will be
(directly or indirectly) fed to advertisers. And surely Wikipedia
searches are among the most interesting data for commercial tracking,
trends analysis and profile building.
* While our search is far from great, right now we at least have the
potential and the incentive to innovate. If the current fundraising
drive is successful, we'll be hiring more developers soon -- and that
will allow us to think in the direction of Semantic MediaWiki /
Structured Data support, to build all kinds of interesting query
tools. See
dbpedia.org for a glimpse at things to come.
The likelihood that we'd be investing significant resources in any of
these projects if we swap out the default search is very small,
meaning that a very interesting slice of innovation & research in
search and data mining would essentially be handed over to commercial
interests. I think that'd be a shame.
* The same argument that applies to any advertising applies to
search-based advertising: it could reduce the incentive to donate
(both on a small and large scale), could complicate our relationship
with other non-profits and private foundations, could reduce users'
feeling of equity in the site, could endanger our tax-exempt status,
and so on and so forth.
I find it interesting that this discussion is coming up in the context
of a fundraising drive which, so far, seems quite successful, even
though the execution is still leaving quite a bit to be desired.
--
Toward Peace, Love & Progress:
Erik
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