Google donates $2 million to Wikimedia parent group
Google has donated $2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation, the body behind the Wikipedia site. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales broke the news by posting a message on Twitter.
In a statement received by CNET, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said, “Wikipedia is one of the greatest triumphs of the Internet. This vast repository of community-generated content is an invaluable resource to anyone who is online.”
The donation comes despite the fact that Google has its own take on Wikipedia, known as Knol. Launched in 2008, it got off to a poor reaction and remains largely pointless and redundant today.
There’s no official word yet about what, if anything, Google hopes to get out of the deal. Based on past history, it’s extremely hard to see the Wikimedia foundation agreeing to cede any form of editorial control or become involved in advertising partnerships. That most likely means this is purely a case of Google recognizing that a strong Wikipedia improves the overall internet experience, which has a knock-on benefit for Google’s bottom line.
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