Wikipedia has become the staple of accessing information on the internet. Go to Google, and type in a search term. I gurantee that more than half of the keywords you type in will have a wiki page on the front page results. Statistics show that Wikipedia receives about 10 billion page views a month.

For all of you Google Adsense users, I’m sure that you’re salivating. As you lick your chops, Wikipedia sits there not being able to monetize their success. Of course they’re a non-profit organization so it makes sense. What I don’t understand is why they continue to remain non-profit.

I believe that the term non-profit loses its meaning for a website when it gets as big as Wikipedia. They’re starting to really put it to users to make donations so that Wikipedia can keep going. What I wonder is why they do it that way?

Wikipedia set a mark of $6 million for donations, and are coming really close to making it. What I can’t fathom is why they feel the need to keep this structure? Wikipedia isn’t the Red Cross, or some non-profit going to third world countries to feed others. They’re a website for helping people access information. Why not throw a single ad up, and make all the profit you need from someone other than your users?

Unlike sites with lower traffic, Wikipedia could get away with one ad. Although users hate to see ads pop up all over a site, having one banner really can’t hurt. You keep your users from having to pay to keep Wikipedia going, and you’ve got all the profit you need to keep things going. You can make sure that all the profit is solely going to the advancement of the site.

While I don’t agree with their current structure, it is quite amazing that the site has continued to go on as long as it has based purely on donations.

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