Agencies
Paid Wikipedia editing: the rules, and how to choose an agency
Hiring a professional is allowed if Wikipedia's transparency rules are followed. Here is what they require, and how to tell a serious agency from one that promises the impossible.
Key points
- Paying someone to write on Wikipedia is allowed, as long as the paid contribution is disclosed.
- The Wikimedia Terms of Use require paid editors to disclose their employer, client and affiliation.
- On the English Wikipedia, paid editors should submit new articles through Articles for Creation and request changes rather than edit directly.
- Guaranteed publication, multiple accounts and paid "protection" are signs of a service to avoid.
Hiring a professional for your Wikipedia article is common, and legitimate. But the industry also has a bad reputation, built by people who sell impossible promises or work in secret. Here is what the rules require, and how to choose a serious service.
The rules on paid editing
The Wikimedia Foundation Terms of Use, which everyone accepts when saving an edit, require anyone who receives or expects compensation to disclose their employer, client and affiliation. Disclosure can be made on the user page, on the talk page of the article, or in the edit summary, and each project may set stricter rules.
On the English Wikipedia, the paid-contribution disclosure policy and the conflict of interest guideline add that paid editors:
- should disclose on their user page and on the talk page of each article concerned;
- should not create articles directly, but submit drafts through Articles for Creation;
- should propose changes to existing articles through talk-page edit requests;
- must use personal accounts: shared and company-named accounts are not allowed.
Undisclosed paid editing is a violation of the Terms of Use and leads to blocks and the removal of the work.
What a professional can do, and what they cannot
| Can | Cannot |
|---|---|
| Assess notability before starting | Make a non-notable subject notable |
| Research sources and write a neutral draft | Guarantee publication |
| Handle the review and the dialogue with editors | Stop others from editing the article |
| Propose well-sourced updates over time | Remove sourced information you dislike |
Signs of a service to avoid
- Guaranteed results, publication within days, or permanence "forever".
- No disclosure of their role, or several accounts.
- Claims to be Wikipedia administrators or official Wikimedia partners.
- Packages of edits or links placed in other articles.
- A subscription to protect the article or prevent its deletion.
- Cold contact claiming your draft was rejected or your article is at risk.
These are not hypotheticals. In 2015 the English Wikipedia blocked hundreds of accounts in a case known as Orangemoody, in which businesses and people were approached to have an article published and then asked to pay to "protect" it. The Wikimedia Foundation has publicly warned that you do not need to pay for a Wikipedia article and that promises of guaranteed results deserve suspicion.
Questions to ask before you sign
- How do you assess notability, and what happens if my profile does not qualify?
- Which account will you use? Can I see its user page and disclosures?
- Will the article go through a draft and Articles for Creation review?
- Will I be able to read and approve the draft before submission?
- What is included in the price, and what happens after publication?
A serious agency answers all of them without hesitation. On pricing, see how much a Wikipedia page costs.
How we work
At Wikicraft we always start with a free profile assessment and, if the conditions are not there, we say so. We disclose our paid contributions under Wikimedia's rules, draft a neutral, well-referenced proposal, share it with you for approval and submit it to community review. The full process is described in how it works.
Start with the free check.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to pay for a Wikipedia page?
Yes, paying for research and writing is allowed. The Wikimedia Terms of Use, however, require paid contributors to disclose their employer, client and affiliation.
How do I check that an agency discloses its paid editing?
Ask for the username they will use and look at its user page: it should carry a paid-contribution disclosure, and the article's talk page should too.
Can an agency guarantee my page stays online?
No. Nobody owns an article, and the community can edit or delete it. A guarantee of permanence is a promise about something the agency does not control.