

The Easiest Way for Wikipedia to Make Money - justinmares
http://justinmares.com/the-easiest-way-for-wikipedia-to-make-money/

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kaolinite
There's a big issue with this - it favours Amazon. What both society and the
internet really doesn't need is yet another tie-in with Amazon! They're
gaining more and more control of the publishing industry and it's scary.
Wikipedia tries very hard to stay neutral and avoid advertising, so I think
this would be out of the question.

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calbear81
I'm not sure how this is advertising. The user still sees the same exact link
which is the name of a book, they just go to a site that delivers better on
the intent of the click which is to read reviews and purchase the book. Often
times, clicking out to a publisher site yields a poor site experience, no user
reviews, and a more expensive price than Amazon provides not to mention they
rock customer service.

I for one have no problem with what they're doing to the publishing industry,
especially after the e-book pricing fiasco. Lower prices and better service
for all.

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kaolinite
Well, first off - it's only advertising if the links are added in for this
purpose - as mentioned in the article. If there are Amazon links already on
Wikipedia, and I'm sure there are some, that's arguably alright to add
affiliate links onto. However, the issue is that people may begin adding more
and more Amazon links onto articles to try and get more money for Wikipedia -
then it becomes advertising.

Finally, your second point - I like better service and I like lower prices,
but I dislike DRM and I dislike companies that obtain monopolies and exert
control. It worries me that, in future, you will get kindle-only books or
books that can only be bought with DRM. Books that in 50 years time may be
lost forever. It really saddens me that we are giving away control of our
media. Anyway - that's a rant for another article!

Just for perspective: I really support DuckDuckGo using affiliate links with
Amazon (and perhaps other retailers too) - I think that's a great way of
generating money for the service without resorting to adverts. However, on
Wikipedia, I don't think it should be used.

