Little bits of knowledge are Google's next big thing by Matt Hartley, Globe and Mail (Dec 15)
Google is starting its own Wikipedia called Knol. "According to a post on the Official Google Blog, the new reference tool encourages experts to write encyclopedic articles called knols, which stands for unit of knowledge. Topics would be in an expert's field of interest, and knols would be hosted by Google and included in the lists generated by the company's search engine."
Names of authors will be listed, and Google users will be able to post comments or suggested edits.
There is a possibility of payment - "Knol authors who agree to let Google post advertising on their pages will be entitled to a share of those revenues."
If this is successful, Google will be able to keep users using Google and click on Google's ads. Will this reduce traffic to Wikipedia? Might some Wikipedia contributors switch?
See Encouraging people to contribute knowledge Udi Manber, Google Blog - for Google's announcement.
Posted by Gwen at December 16, 2007 02:25 AM