Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I did a web search for the name of one of my websites. This is a site that I make no attempt to monetize, although some day I probably will do so. The search found my site was mentioned in a post at wikimedia.org.
The wikimedia post listed not just this site, but all my sites, some of which include AdSense. My AdSense publisher ID was listed. The page was called Spam blacklist. It was creepy. I feel like someone is stalking me. They took the time and effort to uncover all domains registered to me and my AdSense publisher ID. Apparently I was somehow identified as a bad person and they were cleaning up Wikipedia.
The site that I had searched for was not linked from Wikimedia so far as I know.
One of my AdSense sites was linked from a Wikipedia entry at one time. I put the link there myself a long time ago, before I was an AdSense publisher. I probably should have removed it. I understand Wikipedia users wanting to purge the encyclopedia of AdSense; I've myself routinely remove "external links" on Wikipedia that go to AdSense sites. So I understand somebody removing the link to my site.
But this person or persons had gone beyond that. They had researched me and found all my sites and listed them. About half have AdSense on them; the rest are unmonetized. One of my unmonetized sites had three links from Wikipedia, none of which I placed. I didn't check but I bet these links have been removed.
I don't spam Wikipedia. I did place that one link about three years ago, but that was it. The external links now have "nofollow" so there is no reason for anyone to spam Wikipedia anymore.
Anyhow, I feel creeped out and upset by the whole thing. Remove the links, but don't put me on a "blacklist". Is there some kind of anti-AdSense vendetta within the Wikipedia community?
When a business, or not-for-profit organization breaks the laws of the land, and refuse to comply, there is only ONE answer. Legal action. Those who say differently, will think differently when they join the growing the list of websites that have suddenly lost their gravy train, because their websites urls are now engulfed in negative language related to their nitch.
Actually, the law is on Wikipedia's side in this. You'd have to get the Communications Decency Act overturned to have legal recourse against Wikipedia - one of the provisions protects sites such as Wikipedia from being responsible for what its participants post. According to Federal law, they're off the hook. You can sue whoever actually posted the stuff, but you can't sue Wikipedia for allowing it to be posted (probably the fact that they allow a method for you to remove the post factors in there too)
And you didn't answer my earlier question if you feel it's ok for lawyers to demand you change your site. Are your demands just for other people?
You might enjoy the irony of your demands that you replace the group who edits the webpage with lawyers you choose, if you can see it.
