Paid editing of Wikipedia

MyWikiBiz founder, AP photo, 2007.

Launched in 2006, the MyWikiBiz enterprise has authored dozens of encyclopedic articles about companies, products, and individual persons. These articles are published under terms of free, copyleft licenses, in hopes that free content sites (primarily Wikipedia) will disseminate them to vast audiences for wider use.

Evolution of the editing service

From August until October 2006, MyWikiBiz created content for about 10 articles that found their way to Wikipedia. Three of them were disclosed to the "powers that be" at Wikipedia, which led to two of them being deleted, and the remaining one being savaged by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. In the pinnacle of hypocrisy, an administrator who acted as Wales' lap-dog later plagiarized the original MyWikiBiz content and attempted (unsuccessfully, as he was caught red-handed) to claim the content ab initio as his own.

What about the other seven articles that were not disclosed? All are beautifully residing to this day within Wikipedia, thoughtfully tended to by the editing community. To these articles, MyWikiBiz has added many dozens more Wikipedia pages and improvements on behalf of clients. Only two or three articles have ever been overturned by the Wikipedia administrative community.

Therefore, we at MyWikiBiz have concluded that content decisions at Wikipedia are not at all about "the quality of the contribution", but rather, "the provenance of the contribution". If the editor is embedded in the community, their content generally stays; but if the editor is new and unfamiliar, their content will generally be deprecated or removed with prejudice.

As of June 16, 2014, the Wikimedia Foundation has implemented in its Terms of Use a new section entitled "Paid contributions without disclosure". The key aspect of this section is that users:

...must disclose your employer, client, and affiliation with respect to any contribution for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation.

Therefore, when you engage the services of MyWikiBiz, you are paying for the expertise of MyWikiBiz and its affiliate editors; that is, you are compensating us for our research skills, writing style, and editorial review time. Your payment also obtains our knowledge of policies and guidelines on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects. You agree that you are making no payment for any content contributions on Wikipedia or other Wikimedia Foundation projects. MyWikiBiz and its affiliates will only execute content contributions on Wikipedia or other Wikimedia Foundation projects as a personal courtesy at or near the end of our consultative project. MyWikiBiz may not receive or expect to receive any compensation for directly publishing or editing content on Wikipedia or other Wikimedia Foundation projects, and thus no refunds or rebates will be offered to you as the result of any content outcomes on Wikipedia or other Wikimedia Foundation projects which are ultimately outside of our control. Because of these service terms, MyWikiBiz and its affiliate editors are exempt from the Wikimedia Foundation Terms of Use section about "Paid contributions without disclosure". Since we neither receive nor expect to receive compensation for any of our contributions to Wikipedia or other Wikimedia Foundation projects, we need not make disclosure of our employer(s), client(s), or affiliation(s).

If you're reading this page, there's a good chance you already know exactly what we're talking about here.

Our advice

If you are thinking about publishing content on Wikipedia that you suspect may come under fire for "conflict of interest" reasons, you are advised to contact MyWikiBiz for a free consulting discussion to obtain advice and possible assistance.

Despite a superficial "permanent ban" from Wikipedia, MyWikiBiz and its affiliates (all under signed non-disclosure agreements) have researched, written, and published on Wikipedia numerous paid articles, from 2007 to the present day. The vindictive administrators on Wikipedia think they have the power to control free content, but in practice they have nothing of the sort. By using sockpuppet editor accounts that are dedicated to only one client before being phased out, and by using cycled IP addresses, public Wi-Fi hotspots, and mobile Internet connections, Wikipedia articles can be written in exchange for payment, then published as a courtesy, without retribution -- even despite a community "advisory" against editing Wikipedia in this fashion. It can be done, folks. You simply shouldn't ever breathe a word of it. That's the secret to our success. If you or your company has a problem with Wikipedia, you can publicly announce that problem (and in most cases magnify it), or you can work according to Wikipedia's own policies about anonymity, get consultative support from outside Wikipedia, and modify content on Wikipedia in a voluntary fashion. Approximately 85% of our client-related work is successfully published this way. You likely won't achieve such a success rate by publicly disclosing all of your wants and needs on Wikipedia.

Most projects for MyWikiBiz clients are executed for about $200 to $350 dollars.

Why businesses pay for Wikipedia content

From the Examiner article about this subject...

As a globally-leading website that appears at or near the top of the most important search engine query results pages, Wikipedia has (for better or for worse) become a must-watch reference page. This is especially true for any business concerned about its brand awareness and a factual presentment of its corporate history and product or service descriptions. A company that can't be found on Wikipedia is deemed by most Internet researchers as "small potatoes" or "insignificant". Yet on the other hand, a company that is given a disproportionately negative and unfair treatment by Wikipedia is suffering immeasurable damage to its reputation. Businesses that understand the importance of content on Wikipedia, but don't have the time or prowess to engage directly in the topsy-turvy editing process have been hiring experienced editors to act on their behalf, since at least 2006.

Still curious?

Your Business and Wikipedia is a forthcoming e-book to be published by Gregory Kohs. With over a decade of experience as a Wikipedia editor, news maker, and spokesman, Kohs understands the ins and outs of creating, modifying, and manipulating Wikipedia content to better serve the needs of your business. And soon he'll be sharing his astounding and provocative secrets with you.

About the author

Gregory Kohs is a marketing research director for a Fortune 100 media company. His enterprise, MyWikiBiz, has been the subject of news stories appearing in USA Today, the Washington Post, and MSNBC.com. He has appeared on national television on multiple occasions and has presented "how to" information about Wikipedia to academic audiences. His experience with MyWikiBiz and Wikipedia has been documented in numerous books and scholarly works. Having been consulted and hired by dozens of clients to work on content within Wikipedia, Kohs is perfectly suited to teach you about your business and Wikipedia.

Contact MyWikiBiz

For a confidential discussion, contact:

Email: ResearchBiz (at) gmail (dot) com

Phone: (484) NEW-WIKI

Content portfolio

MyWikiBiz is pleased to share some of the wiki content we have generated over the years. However, far more articles (and better ones) than these are protected by a non-disclosure agreement, and thus cannot be shared here.

Together, these pages are viewed over 15,000 times per month (April 2011).

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