Could it be true that Wikipedia may shut down and “disappear”?
Florence Devouard, Chairwoman of the Wikimedia foundation told an audience at the Lift07 conference that Wikipedia has the financial resources to run its servers for only another 3-4 months.
A report from Philippe Mottaz states:
“At this point, Wikipedia has the financial resources to run its servers for about 3 to 4 months. If we do not find additional funding, it is not impossible that Wikipedia might disappear”. The warning by Florence Devouard, chairwoman of the Wikimedia Foundation was certainly dire, and Lift07 was as good a venue to make an appeal. But it is another illustration of how difficult it is to find the proper business model in the digital age, and more precisely in this case in what Florence called the “gift economy”.
Not a chance. I doubt that they would have left it this close to realize that they need more funding or cry for help at such short notice. If it was the case, then everyone on the Wikipedia Foundation Board should step down (or be voted off). I see this as more of a strategic ploy and a bluff to create some buzz over potential investors that might be interested. A Wikipedia staff claimed on Nicholas Carr’s blog that “Ms. Devouard’s comment was taken out of context”. Ms. Devouard really needs to be more careful with her words as it seems that millions interpreted it the same way I did. Even if she was taken out of context, there surely would have been a more formal statement to clarify what she said instead of a comment on a blog.
Not to state the obvious but Wikipedia is no doubt a huge cash cow and commands a huge following. If YouTube is worth $1.65 billion, then Wikipedia would probably be twice that or more. The monetary possibilities for the site are endless and although the foundation is very much against commercializing it, they might eventually be forced to go down that route. Monetizing their site would easily offset their $75,517 monthly cost and have plenty for further development to take Wikipedia to the next level.
It would be a sad thing to see Wikipedia plastered with ads but if it does mean keeping a good thing going, I am all for it.
Google is waiting on the sidelines, salivating.
Wikipedia links:
2006 Financial Audit
Monthly Expenditure Breakdown
Signpost Archives and Reports
One Response to: Wikipedia running out of money
Lenoxus
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:35 pm
1Good points. Golly, what does it say about a site’s prominence and allure that the mere suggestion that it’s going down should actually increase private investment? If YouTube made such an announcement, the salivation wouldn’t be from Google or other advertisers but from rival web-video companies ready to take its place. Wikipedia, on the other hand, is positioned such that its potential rivals, like Larry Sanger’s Citizendium are of a completely different model (generally expert-only), so it alone can fit the unusual niche it’s made for itself.
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