Christine Pepin
Media Coordinator After six months in beta, Google announced earlier this week that Knol, a user-generated encyclopedia, would be open to the public for use. Many are anticipating that Knol will rival Wikipedia in the near future, although the two sites are quite different. Entries made on this site, called knols, are posted by a variety of approved subject-expert authors about specific topics. With their name and reputation connected to the material posted, authors have a power that Google calls, “moderation collaboration.” Using this authority, these authors have the right to accept, reject or modify suggested edits by the readers before they become publically visible. Comments, ratings or reviews submitted of the knolls, however, cannot be modified by Google. Knol is sponsored through Google's internal ad program, AdSense, at the discretion of the authors, who receive a cut of these profits. On the other-hand, Wikipedia is funded purely on private donors and some grants and is therefore visibly at risk of being unseated by Google’s revenue-generating system.
The value available for students, professors, researchers and other intellectuals trying to build a reputation exists on Knol, as their selectivity of content shows the sites credibility. Wikipedia, who struggles to assure themselves as reliable source, may now loose readers as well as authors who now have a monetary and career-driven incentive on Knol. With Google securing 61.5% of searches in June, according to MarketingVox, conflict of interest issues are evident, as these highly updated and information-abundant sites typically rank high in the search engines. For years, Wikipedia has dominated for this reason with high organic positions. Now, however, they will begin competing with Google, the powerhouse controlling the algorithms behind those calculated rankings. |
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