The Web Explorer

Google Knol (www.google.com/knol) has been around in the internet for one year (The beta version was launched on July, 23 2008). Google Knol is the acronym of ‘a unit of knowledge’. This is one of the latest products from Google. For you who familiar with Wikipedia, I don’t think it’s difficult to describe what is Google Knol . Yes …. Google Knol is another online ecyclopedia and it was intented to challenge the domination of Wikipedia. The presence of Google Knol is believed by many people will affect the hegemony of Wikipedia in online encyclopedia market. Therefore, I think it’s a good idea if we discuss some fundamental differences between Google Knol and Wikipedia.

Point 1: While Wikipedia only emphasis on articles and it’s references (reference or web link) that is used,  Google Knol also add emphasis on the author’s background. According to the Google representative, the inclusion of author’s name in the articles has direct relevance with the level of reader’s trust and content validity. The author who has reached the level of doctoral education will tend to be trusted rather than the (only) high school graduates.

Point 2: Each article in Knol can only be written by one author. One topic might have possibility to have multiple versions of the article, according to the number of the author. Therefore, it is important in the Knol to know who wrote a topic in the first time.

Point 3:  In Google Knol, the authors have the opportunity to get an income. Not like Wikipedia which is clean from ads, ads from Google adsense will be embedded to the Knol’s articles but this ad will appear only when being approved by the author.

Interesting isn’t it?  Currently, Google Knol is still in beta (trial), with thousand of articles. Many people expect that in the short of period, the Knol’s collection will expand fast and can reach the speed of its rival, Wikipedia that reaches one million entries in four years.