You’d have to have been living under a rock not to notice that the best “search engine optimized” site on the entire planet is: Wikipedia.

The thing is everywhere. For just about any generalist search phrase you care to name, there lies Wikipedia – a prime example of how links are infinitely more valuable than on-page factors

There is a downside.

If people consider Google an authority, and many do, and if people consider Wikipedia an authority, and many people do, are we in danger of promoting a homogenized world view?

Dave Winer:

“In the web before Wikipedia, every point of view had a chance, but Wikipedia tends toward centralization, toward one or two views prevailing, those that are represented by people who are willing to maintain a presence on Wikipedia. This what I’m not comfortable with.“