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Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and head of Facebook, said at the time of the company's listing money wasn't its top priority. Photo: Simon Dawson

Wikipedia co-founder and technology entrepreneur Jimmy Wales has accused Facebook of putting advertisers ahead of its 890 million users.

Facebook was launched in 2004 with a stated mission of making the world more open and connected while helping people stay in touch with family and friends. When Facebook first listed on the NASDAQ in 2012, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said money was not the company's top priority.

"Simply put: we don't build services to make money; we make money to build better services," he told would-be investors. "I think more and more people want to use services from companies that believe in something beyond simply maximising profits."

Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia. Photo: John Davidson

But Mr Wales said a rise in advertising and commercialism at Facebook had fundamentally changed its nature.

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"In the process the purpose of Facebook has become about the advertisers more than it is about the users," he said. "They do care about the users, of course, but they have two masters."

Mr Wales co-founded Wikipedia, which is a non-profit and ad-free encyclopaedia that depends on regular fundraising drives to stay alive. Some commentators have complained its pleas for donations have become overly intrusive and unnecessary - a claim it denies.

Mr Wales also founded Wikia, which lets users host their sites for free in exchange for ads.

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Wiki pioneer: Facebook is a profit sell-out