Paid-for advocacy and the adoption of fake "sockpuppet" identities for promotional purposes are against the free web encyclopaedia's policies. Sue Gardner, executive editor of the Wikimedia Foundation, said "as many as several hundred" accounts were suspect. Editors have blocked or banned more than 250 accounts, she added.
"Our goal is to provide neutral, reliable information for our readers, and anything that threatens that is a serious problem," said Ms Gardner. "We are actively examining this situation and exploring our options." Wikipedia considers paid-for advocacy a "black hat" practice, she said, that "violates the core principles that have made Wikipedia so valuable for so many people."
The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organisation that operates Wikipedia, a free online encyclopaedia. According to investigations by the service's editors, most of the disputed entries appear to originate from a US company called Wiki-PR, which claims to "build, manage, and translate Wikipedia pages for over 12,000 people and companies."
The editors say promotional entries - which they call "Morning227" - have been commissioned by Silicon Valley dot-coms, small financial institutions, authors, medical doctors, a musician and an oil company, amongst others.
Source: BBC News
