Coordinates: 39°56′23″N 75°36′42″W / 39.939586°N 75.611783°W
Type | Private |
---|---|
Founded | 2006 |
Founder(s) | Gregory Kohs |
Headquarters | West Chester, Pennsylvania, US |
Key people | Gregory Kohs (CEO) |
Slogan | Author Your Legacy |
Website | www.mywikibiz.com |
Type of site | Wiki |
Advertising | Google AdSense |
Registration | optional (required to edit pages) |
Available in | Multilingual |
Launched | 2006 |
Current status | Active |
MyWikiBiz is a wiki directory that allows people and enterprises to write about themselves. The brand began as a service creating Wikipedia articles for paying corporations; the founder and owner of MyWikiBiz, Gregory Kohs, was soon blocked from Wikipedia.[1] As of August 2011[ref], the MyWikiBiz directory contained over 70,000 pages of content about corporations and individuals. The business is headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania.[2]
Professor Jonathan Zittrain of the Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society discussed the case of MyWikiBiz in his book The Future of the Internet – And How to Stop It.[3] Kohs appeared on Attack of the Show! on January 25, 2007, and discussed MyWikiBiz.[4] Heise Online expressed a suspicion that while MyWikiBiz's "attempted corporate infiltration" of Wikipedia was discovered, MyWikiBiz was not an isolated case.[5]
Contents |
History and controversy
Kohs and his sister started the MyWikiBiz venture in Pennsylvania in July 2006, initially as a paid editing service, writing content for inclusion in Wikipedia and other community-edited sites.[6][7] The idea came from Wikipedia's "Reward Board", where interested parties would offer cash rewards or gifts to create or improve Wikipedia articles.[2] MyWikiBiz's prices ranged between $49 and $99 for adding entries that conformed to Wikipedia's standards and policies.[2] No official Wikipedia policy prohibited paid-for contributions.[8] Kohs argued that there were tens of thousands of clearly notable companies and nonprofit organizations unrepresented on Wikipedia.[9]
Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales called the commercialized editing "antithetical" to Wikipedia's mission and "absolutely unacceptable"[2] and blocked Kohs' account from editing Wikipedia.[3] However, in August 2006, Wales issued a "mutually beneficial" compromise[10] where he encouraged MyWikiBiz to author and post content on a GFDL-compliant section of MyWikiBiz.com, which could then be scraped by non-paid, independent editors into Wikipedia and other GFDL sites.[3]
In October 2006 Wales again blocked Kohs from Wikipedia, and cautioned any business from using its services. In late October 2006, Kohs formed a partnership to promote and market a wiki-based directory at Centiare.com,[2][11] but when the site's owner discontinued the site, Kohs negotiated a transfer of its contents to MyWikiBiz.com.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ Read, Brock (2007-01-24). "Wikipedia Blocks a Pay-for-Play Scheme". The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/1831/wikipedia-blocks-a-pay-for-play-scheme. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
- ^ a b c d e Bergstein, Brian (2007-01-24). "Idea of paid entries roils Wikipedia". MSNBC/Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16793247/. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ a b c Zittrain, Jonathan (2008). The Future of the Internet – And How to Stop It. Yale University Press. p. 140. ISBN 0300124872. http://yupnet.org/zittrain/archives/16#48.
- ^ dvinson (2007-01-15). "Attack of the Show: Blog, January 15, 2007". Attack of the Show: Blog. G4TV. http://www.g4tv.com/pile_player.aspx?video_key=14996. Retrieved 2007-10-15. "Gregory Kohs, webmaster for mywikibiz.com and Molly Wood, the Executive Editor from C-Net join us tonight at 7PM to discuss!"
- ^ Jellen, Richard (2007-03-31). "Edit-War um Friedrich Merz (Edit War on Friedrich Merz)" (in German). Heise Online. http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/24/24930/1.html. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ MyWikiBiz.com (2006-08-08). "MyWikiBiz press release: Wikipedia – Open For Business". 24-7 Press Release. http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_press_release.php?rID=16892. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ Metz, Cade (2008-02-06). "Wikipedia ruled by 'Lord of the Universe'". The Register. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/06/the_cult_of_wikipedia/page6.html. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ Peer, Mathias (2006-08-24). "Wikipedia-Artikel, die man kaufen kann (Wikipedia articles that you can buy)" (in German). Die Welt. http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article147789/Wikipedia-Artikel_die_man_kaufen_kann.html. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ Noisette, Thierry (2006-08-11). "Wikipedia, nouvel enjeu de relations publiques (Wikipedia, a new issue of public relations)" (in French). ZDNet. http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/internet/0,39020774,39362654,00.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
- ^ Wales, Jimmy (2006-08-09). "MyWikiBiz". WikiEn-L. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2006-August/051897.html. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ "Centiare on the heels of Wikipedia". press release. 2007-01-05. http://www.sbwire.com/news/view/9912. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
External links
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