Wikipedia is in no way “accurate for the most part”, but even if the issue of accuracy could some how be addressed, the fact that Wikipedia content can be changed by anyone at any time makes it an unworthy reference. Your link today to an article you like could tomorrow promote something you totally disagree with.

Because when you’re looking for information, content on Wikipedia is better than 99.9% other websites out there.

Considering the information you find on Wikipedia isn’t necessarily all that accurate, that’s a sad fact of life – that information you find elsewhere is just as misleading if not more. On top of that, the intention of the information on other websites isn’t necessarily to inform you but to trick you into clicking on ads.

Now that’s not even about Google Trust – it’s about people’s trust – to the extent that people trust George Bush’s honesty even though Bush may not know what he’s talking about.

You’re right that teachers are asking students to not cite Wikipedia as a source. My take is that it’s okay for grade schoolers to use it, but not for college students. High schoolers? I’m not sure. I’ll bring it up in a few educational fourms and see what kind of replies come in. (I think I know someone who would put such a survey on his blog. I’ll let you know.)

I just read one of your old comments where you said that you wrote a Wikipedia article on SEO and that you were ranking number one for SEO theory. You’ve got at least four listings on Google’s front page for the term “SEO Theory,” so keep up the good work. I think that interest in the subject will increase because most of the SEO blogs keep going over the same material. With the learning curve increasing, people eventually start looking around for something meatier. I’m tired of “great post” comments and being told to use headings. So, great post, Michael :~) !

By the way, you also said that you could beat Wikipedia in rank for a term if you wanted to. I believe that you could and so could many other people, but they don’t write enough content to actually do it because it’s time consuming.

If you had only ONE book to recommend to someone beginning SEO, what would it be? Don’t give me a top ten list…only ONE. Later, I’ll ask for more.

Not only do many teachers and libraries now forbid students to use Wikipedia, it’s just not a reliable source of information for many topics where the only contributors are well-meaning but poorly informed people.

As a Wikipedia contributor who has repeatedly watched good information be replaced by propaganda and nonsense, and as someone who has reveiwed numerous comments by former Wikipedia admins who were frustrated with the lack of standards there, I just know better than to trust Wikipedia’s “information”.

Convenience is just not a plausible justification for promoting Wikipedia to the top of search results. Nor would I ever want to link to any article at Wikipedia, since I would never know how many people might be led to wrong information (which can stay in place on Wikipedia for months).

Why? Partly because of the nature of my site, which needs to be very simple with just a tad of general information due to its core audience, but also because with Wikipedia I don’t have to log in all the time with passwords. Encarta would be a better choice, but I can’t be bothered with logging in over and over again. I try to keep everything open at once, but you know how that goes. Somehow I manage to accidently close things.

Why else? Wikipedia is the best choice for searches more times than not. This is the fault of web developers who won’t provide enough good information on THEIR sites. If I were Google, I would keep Wikipedia on top of the front page in most cases, too. Yes, it’s simple, watered down information, but I’m learning, like many have, that I just can’t read long, deep articles on everything because there just isn’t enough time in the day. Plus, a quick overview is a great starting point before digging deeper.

Don’t be a Wikipedia hater Today there is a nice short article on the European Parliament on their front page. Reading their daily front page features keeps me informed, much like a reading a daily newspaper does. I know the facts won’t be 100% right, but I only want a nice overview on something new for the day.

On a similar note, I’ve found that I have to limit the number of SEO blogs that I read…also due to time constraints, and your blog is now my ONLY ‘must read daily’ SEO blog.