Google takes on Wikipedia
Friday, 14 December 2007 22:49Google is building its own version of the communally-constructed online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
The Internet search powerhouse is inviting chosen people to test a free service dubbed 'knol', to indicate a unit of knowledge.
'Our goal is to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it,' Google said on its website.
'There are millions of people who possess useful knowledge that they would love to share, and there are billions of people who can benefit from it.'
But Google's version will not work in exactly the same way that Wikipedia does.
While Wikipedia lets visitors make changes to its online pages, trusting that people with accurate information will correct errors and misleading entries, Google is inviting folks to author their own articles.
Pictures of authors will be displayed on their knol web pages. In this way, authors will be held responsible for what they write, as well as given proper credit.
Google hopes knols will be written on all conceivable topics and says it has no plans to edit or endorse content.
Knols written on the same subjects will remain separate and be forced to compete for the attention of visitors, who will give online feedback.
Knol authors will have the option of letting Google post ads on their pages and sharing in the revenues.
