Ever find yourself wondering where the business model is for the whole area of wikis? The New York Times published the article, New Web Sites Seeking Profit In Wiki Model, a couple of days ago and it’s a worthy read to get you up to speed on these “anyone can publish or edit it” websites.
With so many people contributing to wikis, and so many people gathering information from them, many interesting entrepreneurs are uncovering unique business models that work.
If you’re curious as to how this affects Marketers, check this out:
“Although Wikipedia is operated by a nonprofit foundation, ideas for advertising-based wiki sites are beginning to take their place alongside blogs and social networking sites as a staple of Silicon Valley business plans.”
While it’s unlikely that wikis alone will provide the rocket fuel for this next boom, I’m sure people who use wikis are getting ready for the onslaught of advertising that tends to follow an incredibly innovative and free environment.
Most of the traffic around wikis are currently cannibalized by either Wikipedia in the public domain or behind-the-firewall wikis that are being used by companies for collaborative projects.
From a marketer’s stand-point, wikis are of interest because they tend to be a hub for a specific community and they rely heavily on content. How that tumbles into monetization is a still mystery to everyone… and that includes the subject matter experts from this New York Times piece.
You can read the full article here: New Web Sites Seeking Profit In Wiki Model -New York Times.