A recent article in the LA Times describes Wikipedia’s impending need for more funding to meet its annual budget of $4.6 million. Contributions from the roughly 45,000 individuals who contribute annually an average of $33 each only amounts to one third of Wikipedia’s requirements and the rest must be met from donors such as U2′s Bono.

The most obvious solution that comes to mind is introducing ads into the site, however, this issue is definitely a hot button within the Wikipedia community with concerns being raised that the introduction of ads would jeapordize Wikipedia’s Neutral point of view – a fundamental Wikipedia principle – that has played a major role in the site’s success.

The article describes how most of Wikipedia’s editors and some board of trustee members are strictly opposed to advertising and when the issue was raised in 2002, a Spanish-language branch was so concerned that its members quit and created their own version of Wikipedia. 

The way Google is able to maintain credibility by clearly distinguishing between natural and sponsored search results may provide proof that Wikipedia may be able to do the same. Thus a key consideration for Wikipedia would be to integrate the ads into the site design in a way that they are not confused with content nor are they intrusive or annoying.  

Recieving roughly 300 million page views a day which could potentially translate into hundreds of millions of ad revenue dollars per year, Wikipedia cannot afford to overlook this potential source of revenue.  Especially when these added dollars can provide richer content such as pictures and videos , further enhancing Wikipedia’s appeal. However, the question remains – can Wikipedia do so without hindering its credibility and neutrality?