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If you check out the Google search results for most terms, you’ll find Wikipedia at or near the top of the list.

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The popular user-collaborated encyclopedia has more page views than Digg and MySpace, and could be largest untapped resource in online marketing to date.

Danny Sullivan moderated today’s session focused on the viability of Wikipedia as an online marketing tool.

The discussion panel consisted of the following members:

Neil Patel spoke first, and briefly covered some of the potential advantages that Wikipedia offers to the search engine marketer, which include authoritative links, increased traffic, brand awareness, and increased information about companies and products.

Patel added that Wikipedia ranked fourth in a Google search for ‘Web 2.0’ and that links contained within the listing were receiving a good amount of traffic, thus reinforcing the potential of how the site can be used as a resource.

Don Steele from Comedy Central noted that since popular host Stephen Colbert started the ‘wikiality’ craze, than traffic from Wikipedia to the Comedy Central site has increased substantially.

He estimated that the company would have to spend around $20,000 a month to see similar numbers from a pay-per-click strategy.

Undertaking a Wikipedia campaign isn’t something to be taken lightly, however, given how vicious the community can be to those who abuse the system.

Jonathan Hochman spoke briefly about Barry Schwartz’s efforts to create his own biographical page on Wikipedia and how the entry barely escaped deletion.

So, there is a fine line one has to walk when stepping into the world of Wikipedia.

Learning to play by the rules and endear your brand to the community through transparency and unbiased commentary is vital to the success of the endeavor. And with the sheer search authority that rests within the digital walls of Wikipedia, the rewards are well worth the risk.