Wikipedia might use advertising to raise funds for charity

Open source encyclopedia project Wikipedia has been one of the shining stars of the collaborative nature of the web. The founders of the service have now said that they are considering launching trivia games and quiz programs to boost funds to support the service.

They are even considering changing their no-advertising policy in the future to raise funds for charity purposes. They currently have no plans to advertise on the Wikipedia service.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said in a statement on their plans: “When we’re turning down millions and millions of dollars in advertising revenue that could be used, to for example, put computers in schools in Africa…we have to very thoughtful and responsible about why we’re doing it.”

He added: “Right now I don’t think it would be a good strategy for us, I think we will pursue other means of revenue.”

He further said that they are hoping that their for-profit project Wikia would become popular enough to support the Wikipedia project.