Google's Knol, the End of Wikipedia?

Google announced on its blog that it would be releasing a new tool called a Knol. The tool will be very similar to Wikipedia. Google hopes that many people will be encouraged to share their knowledge on wiki-style pages. To help encourage those people Google will share its AdSense revenue with the author.

Wikipedia is virtually on the top five of every search result. Web users have found Wikipedia to be an easy way to get a quick answer or to begin a research project. If Google's Knols are successful, it may not be Wikipedia on the top of the list.

There will be several differences between the two competitors. Web users will have to determine which aspects they prefer, and then determine the fate of the two web tools.

Editing

Wikipedia allows anyone on the web to edit an article. Compared to a research journal Wikipedia is not considered a legit source. However, the information there should be accurate because the multi-person editing eliminates false information.

Multi-person editing should theoretically eliminate opinions within an article.

Google's Knol tool will be different. The author of the article will be the only one able to make edits. However, the readers may make suggestions, which may or may not be taken.

If a reader wants to put accurate information up, their option is to post their own Knol on the same topic. The two authors will be competing. If they win, they will get more revenue from AdSense.

Unfortunately, in the world of the internet, accurate information does not guarantee a better Knol. If writing on a topic that is controversial, popular information is better than true information.

Google says that they will not be involved in the editing. However, Google will have an active role in ranking the Knols.

Rating

Readers will have the ability to give the Knol a rating and post comments. Wikipedia does not have this feature, because it is unnecessary to have a rating system when anyone can edit the article to his or her likings.

Byline

An author of a Google Knol will have their byline displayed. This will allow authors to build a reputation for themselves. Theoretically, the byline should prevent people from putting false information up, because their reputation is on the line.

Peer Reviews?

Google's Blog gave an example of a Knol and it showed that there were peer reviews. Google made no mention of this feature. Questions such as "who is considered a peer?" are still unanswered.

Knol vs Wikipedia

It would seem that most authors would want to publish a Knol instead of a Wikipedia article because of the money incentive. However, a successful Knol will require a lot of time and effort to write an in-depth article that can compete with other Knol articles and with other websites.

The internet users and authors will determine the outcome of this battle. If more people believe that competition is the key to good quality content, then Google's Knols will win. If people believe that "conglomerate knowledge" is necessary for accurate knowledge then Wikipedia will win.

Not only will Google be competing with the nonprofit Wikipedia but also Google will be competing with companies such as Associated Content, eHow, and About.com. These article websites receive their revenue from AdSense. If Google can eliminate the middleman companies, then either the author or Google will get a larger share of the profit. Google is the better bet.

Google is putting itself in risky territory with its Knol Project. About 65% of all searches are done on Google. Eliminating Wikipedia, or other companies, may be a simple procedure for the search engine to do.

If Google is not careful, it may be acting as a monopoly.

Google's Knol project is only on its first phase of testing, and only a select few have been invited to test the tool. Google did not announce a release date or any time line for the completion of the project.

Sources:

www.marketingvox.com/archives/2007/12/14/some-seek-love-googles-looking-for-ad-supported-knowledge/

googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/encouraging-people-to-contribute.html

www.marketingvox.com/archives/2007/12/12/googles-nov-share-of-us-searches-surpasses-65-up-5-yoy/