Wikipedia avoids advertising

The power of the internet as a way of raising money has been highlighted again, following the news that Wikipedia will not need to sell advertising space.

Commentators have already awed over how US president-elect Barack Obama has used the web to raise funds for his campaign and now Wikipedia has ensured that it will remain a “free” information source.

The site - or more precisely the Wikimedia Foundation which looks after it - managed to raise more than $6 million (£4.1 million) from 125,000 donors worldwide.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wrote a thank-you letter to all the people who had shown support.

It said: “This campaign has proven that Wikipedia matters to its users, and that our users strongly support our mission: to bring free knowledge to the planet, free of charge and free of advertising.

“We deeply appreciate the generosity of our supporters.”

Wikipedia made the headlines last year when a number of newspapers printed obituaries for the television music composer Ronnie Hazlehurst.

The website wrongly stated that he also wrote a hit song for pop group S Club 7 - which the newspapers copied by mistake.