More recently, corporate employees have been modifying entries on Wikipedia. And once again ExxonMobil was caught red-handed. In 2004 revisions to a Wikipedia article substantially “played down the impact of the spill on the area’s wildlife” and “cast a positive light on compensation payments the company had made to victims”. The changes were later traced to a computer at ExxonMobil. Other companies caught using similar tactics include: Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi-Co, and Wal-Mart.

Such corporate manipulations are deplorable because they callously prey on the fact that Wikipedia has now established itself as a reliable first port of call for information on a vast variety of topics. Wikipedia is not another marketing channel for corporate interests.