Written like an Advertisement Notice
Background
We were approached by a large corporation, that had struggled for over a year with the removal of an advertising notice. They had become frustrated with the lack of progress and the constant poor feedback from editors. They turned to us for help in addressing their advertisement problem on Wikipedia.
One of the most common notices on Wikipedia is the ‘written like an advertisement’ notice. This normally is included when the article isn’t quite right and an individual or group of editors are not satisfied with the phrasing of the article.
While this might not seem like a huge problem, it can often be damaging to the article subject and in some instances lead to deletion. Our client contacted us after attempting to fix the article by discussing the problem with various editors. They however struggled to address the written like an advertisement issue on the article after months of discussion.
Obstacles
The article about the corporation was lengthy, with around 50 quality references. There were a number of editors who seemed to be monitoring the page, but did little to improve it. This obstacle meant that these editors rarely carried out any positive edits to assist, but were happy to monitor and give their opinions when others did so.
This meant for a novice editor that they really struggled to spot the main issues, as they were constantly told the article “needed a substantial rewrite”. This meant the company internally made various suggestions, but there were very few editors on Wikipedia willing to assist them with their problem.
Strategy & Actions
With any form of improvement on Wikipedia, knowledge is key to understanding how to approach the issue or issues. Many companies have turned to us or other consultancy firms in order to solve this problem in an efficient manner.
In this scenario, we always try and carry out offline editing and effectively create an entire new draft, especially when editors suggest the article needs a substantial rewrite. In this scenario we did just that. Before commencing with the project, we analyse the hostility and the amount of changes needed. We then decide to either upload the entire version for consideration or suggest changes section by section.
This particular scenario had a number of editors who wanted the article to be 100% advertising language free, which meant we therefore took the section-by-section approach. By doing this, it allows us to ask for reviews from the other involved editors and as we are suggesting the requests, it gives the chance for other editors to have their say.
Outcome
In this scenario, the client was pleased as everything went smoothly. Within 2 months the changes had been implemented and the article was notice free. It is essential in this sort of scenario that a knowledgable editor or consultant is involved. We have seen numerous outcomes when an edit war has begun, since the company representative hasn't handled the situation as well as they could have.
If you would like to know more about the services we offer and how we could assist you with your problem, please contact us to discuss further.