We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

michal frackowiak 1178615800|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

The title says it all… But here go a few words of explanation:

In the early days of Wikidot the business model assumed that users will be allowed to create free Wikis but in exchange they will have to allow displaying some advertisements that would benefit us directly, not the authors. They would also have an option to pay some amount of $$ to get rid of ads.

But then we thought: no way. This is not how it should work. Although this is exactly what our wiki-competitors do, we do not like this model any more. Perhaps it is just time to be different from everybody else is doing. So a few weeks ago I have removed all the parts of Terms of Use and FAQ that mentioned ads and the lack of ads is also mentioned at the Features section.

So… your wikis will remain free and clean (from ads) as they are now.

There are some more things coming soon and I promise you that you will love it. They are the reason it has been a bit quiet here recently.

good luck! - michal

---

Michał Frąckowiak @ Wikidot Inc.
Visit my blog at michalfrackowiak.com

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

KimBooSan 1178626468|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Interesting! You are a man of mystery. LOL!

But, on a topical note, I like the idea of being different from everybody else in this manner. Quite frankly I was never too bothered by ads; perhaps I have been desensitized? On the whole I'd rather not have them, though. I applaud this decision.

::::KBS

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

kazuma 1178704260|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

A HUGE Thanks from an italian user…
How hard would be adding italian language? Is there any way I could help?

Kazuma

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

Oli 1178813750|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Wow! This is great news, and certainly makes Wikidot the best free wiki host out there - great decision and thanks for providing the excellent service.

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

Shealladh 1178971024|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

This is almost the best news for WikiDOT, I'm just awaiting the ability to incorporate the Wiki into my website as I believe it's the best Wiki out there!!!

Way to go Michal

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

qbba77 1179312927|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

great decision!!!!!

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

promod 1179418410|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

No ads + more things we'll love !?!

Michal, you certainly are forward thinking.

I've grown used to ads (as if we have a choice) but was reaching the conclusion that I didn't want them on my sites. They are pollution, as you say. They sap the visitor's energy. I wasn't keen on having to pay to suppress ads either (as my sites are meant to be educational). No ads = greater credibility = no (obvious) ulterior motives. Imagine an ad-free oasis!

I got caught up in the dream of making a fortune from Ad Sense (which I've been using on my blogs). I've been rethinking —- not enough traffic ;)
And because the ads were for services/products I don't endorse (guilty by association). I'm happier when I focus on content that I think will be of benefit to visitors. So monetization has become a secondary consideration.

I'm curious to understand your business model. I want you to earn money! I bet you'll have insights for us. Thanks again for following your vision of the ideal wiki.

last edited on 1179419813|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by promod + show more

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

DaveC 1179579881|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Very pleased to here that there are no ads, as I run a non-profit/non commercial site….my view is that any commercial businesses should pay for hosting, but that's just my personal view, if you can do it without charging and ads, then all the better. I am also pleased for other reasons, I do think wikidot.com is actually one of the better Wiki packages, and I am not just saying that. I have tried a few other free sites with all sorts of bells and whistles, and in general they are:

Slow….very slow, due to inneficient code
Innacurate and inconsistent in page handling
Very buggy in lots of important areas
Simple, but really inflexible
Worry me that they won't scale to large Wiki sites

I am no expert and this Wiki software is not the easiest in the world to use, I have not even found out how to make a custom site template for that individual look and feel….but it works, it works well and it runs quickly. I await the new developments with interest, there are a few things I would like to see and mabye they will be in the new release.

last edited on 1179916027|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by DaveC + show more

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

Aquiles Burlamaqui 1179807892|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Your Brazilian users hope that this don´t change. This clean interface is really different from all wikis in the web.
Congratulations, for you work.

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

michuk 1179957629|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Great news, even though I have no ideas how you are going to make any money on this, Michał :)
If you want to promote Wikidot, digg it: http://digg.com/tech_news/Wiki_Farm_Wikidot_com_Will_Stay_Ad_Free_Forever

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

Nuktar 1180852284|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Yea, this wiki farm rocks 'cause it has no ads ! ye@!

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

Ashoksct 1180940553|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Wikidot rocks..
Wikidot is the one of the best wiki that i have ever seen its free with out any annoying advertisements.Really unbelievable

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

AngelMare 1184101924|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

YEAH!!!

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

Racemoza 1185392342|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

very thanks for a Thai User

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

erte 1188422332|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

ok this is a question to michal: we are also making a comunity site, not a wiki, and i would goldenly like our service to be without adds, but, what is the business model then?

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

erdraug 1191501044|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Even thought i never saw them, the thought that one day ads might be included was looming in the back of my mind - thank you very much michal, hope your alternate business plan works as planned!!

Re: We will not pollute your Wikis with advertisements

daveg 1192046210|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

how do you intend to stay in business then?

i would much rather pay for my site or have to host some (wikidot locally managed not too intrusive) ads than invest myself heavily in wikidot only to see you fold because you're unwilling to have a viable business because people think everything should be free.

(i'm imagining that last bit, not accusing :)