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MyWikiBiz

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MyWikiBiz
Type Private
Founded 2006
Founder 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
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, which hibernated when the owner of MyWikiBiz was banned from Wikipedia.[1] The current site at MyWikiBiz.com uses an extension of the MediaWiki software called Semantic MediaWiki. The MyWikiBiz directory currently contains over 37,000 pages of content about corporations and individuals. The business is headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania.[2] The site was founded by Gregory Kohs, a market researcher.[3]

According to its main page:

MyWikiBiz is a new directory where you can author your legacy on the Internet. We think you are notable, even if Wikipedia has rejected an article about you or your enterprise as being “non-notable”. With MyWikiBiz, you create a beautiful, reader-friendly page that will get picked up by Google, Yahoo!, and MSN Search engines.[4]

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.[5] Kohs appeared on Attack of the Show! on January 25, 2007, and discussed MyWikiBiz.[6] Heise Online expressed a suspicion that while MyWikiBiz’s “attempted corporate infiltration” of Wikipedia was discovered, MyWikiBiz was not an isolated case.[7]

Contents

[edit] History of the site

[edit] Paid editing of Wikipedia

Gregory 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.[8][9] 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 tiers of service were priced at $49, $79, and $99 per article.[2] Kohs stated MyWikiBiz would only produce legitimate Wikipedia articles that conformed to Wikipedia's standards and policies.[10] No official Wikipedia policy prohibited paid-for contributions at the time.[11] Kohs argued that there were tens of thousands of clearly notable companies and nonprofit organizations unrepresented on Wikipedia.[12]

Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales called the commercialized editing "antithetical" to Wikipedia’s mission,[2] and "absolutely unacceptable".[13] Wales blocked Kohs from editing Wikipedia.[5] Brian Bergstein of the Associated Press compared Kohs’ situation to that of Rick Jelliffe, a technical writer approached by Microsoft to edit Wikipedia articles for pay.[14]

Then, in August 2006, Wales issued a "mutually beneficial" compromise[15] 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.[5]

In October 2006 Wales again banned Kohs from Wikipedia, and cautioned any business from using its services. According to Kohs, the result of this was for MyWikiBiz to go into "hibernation"; although still operating, the site is currently acting as a wiki for people and corporations to author their own wiki articles, with no overt transferral to Wikipedia. Kohs maintains a belief that everyone, even editors with commercial interests should be able to contribute to Wikipedia.[5] Years later, Wales also apologized and expressed regret to Kohs.[16]

[edit] Centiare alliance and takeover

In late October 2006, Kohs formed a partnership with the owner of Centiare.com which resulted in Kohs promoting and marketing a wiki-based directory at Centiare.[13][17] When Centiare’s owner opted to pull the plug on the site, Kohs negotiated a transfer of the entire contents of Centiare.com to MyWikiBiz.com,[10] thus leading to MyWikiBiz’s conversion from a paid editing enterprise to a public wiki page host.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Block log for user 'Thekohser'". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ALog&type=block&user=&page=User%3AThekohser&year=&month=-1. Retrieved on 2008-12-10. 
  2. ^ a b c d Bergstein, Brian (2007-01-24). "Idea of paid entries roils Wikipedia". MSNBC/Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16793247/. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. 
  3. ^ 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 on 2008-08-27. 
  4. ^ "Main Page - MyWikiBiz". MyWikiBiz. http://mywikibiz.com/Main_Page. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. 
  5. ^ a b c d 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. 
  6. ^ 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 on 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!" 
  7. ^ 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 on 2008-08-20. 
  8. ^ 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 on 2008-08-20. 
  9. ^ 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 on 2008-08-20. 
  10. ^ a b Bergstein, Brian (2007-02-04). "A sticky wicket for Wikipedia". Philadelphia Inquirer. http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/PI/lib00186,117254C69FB153B8.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. 
  11. ^ 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 on 2008-08-20. 
  12. ^ 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 on 2008-08-27. 
  13. ^ a b Bergstein, Brian (2007-01-28). "What's wrong with accepting money to write on Wikipedia?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette / Associated Press. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07028/756842-96.stm. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. 
  14. ^ Bergstein, Brian (2007-01-24). "Microsoft Offers Cash for Wikipedia Edit". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012401590.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. 
  15. ^ Wales, Jimmy (2006-08-09). "MyWikiBiz". WikiEn-L. http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2006-August/051897.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. 
  16. ^ Wales, Jimmy (2008-12-18). "Talk:Arch_Coal". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3AArch_Coal&diff=258731121&oldid=224255965. Retrieved on 2008-12-23. 
  17. ^ "Centiare on the Heels of Wikipedia". SBWire. 2007-01-05. http://www.sbwire.com/news/view/9912. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. 

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