Google’s about to launch yet another clever idea. Called knol, it will feature authoritative articles about any topic which will use community rating and input.
It will be interesting to see how this project compares to the excellent community produced content at Wikipedia, and also how Google handles the legitimate as well as scammy SEO tactics that always follow good content. Disallowing links to commercial sites would seem to inhibit an author’s ability to feature things, but allowing them opens up the chance of abuses of the type that made Wikipedia choose to use NOFOLLOW tag on all external Wikipedia links.
The good news – more quality information online – yippee!
Joe Duck 
Does the knol project constitute an implicit admission that “Google Scholar” is a failure? Or atleast that it is inadequate and cumbersome?
I would think that anyone putting a search term into google scholar would come up with the information that would be expected to be in this knol project. Or atleast would come up with the search hits that would be the raw data for the knol project.
Perhaps its an admission that Google Scholar is not so scholarly. Is this Knol Project a “lets skim the cream off WikiPedia and profit by it” venture? A way to provide WikiPedia content with ads by injecting some intermediaries who will make meaningless changes?
FG I think this will be a simpler format – working towards a quick authority article rather than for big time research. It’ll be interesting to see how if they stop treating the wiki articles as favorably as now. Monetization of this will also be interesting – I’m guessing they’ll do a rev share with authors, which is a good approach IMO.
Well, if you divide the world into “gruel, pablum and oatmeal” the gruel will be monetized and of interest to some, the pablum will be monetized and of interest to many and the oatmeal will be monetized and of interest to an unknown number. In reality, I think we are looking at the monetization of mediocrity with no requirement that the named “author” is the actual creator rather than a cream-skimmer. Maybe I’ll actually go to this Google Knol stuff an create a page on butterflies. I don’t mind having my name linked to a topic on which I know nothing…as long as I somehow get ad revenue from Google.
monetization of mediocrity
Ha – nice turn of phrase there FG. You have also created a completely adequate description of the world of internet publishing revenue.
From the blurb and example it appears Google will try to take a “high road” and keep the quality and credentials high. However, any money schemes will become a slippery slope to diminished quality.
Well, using the example of Insomnia and general Sleep Hygiene, I’m sure the page will be in the ‘pablum’ category. Nothing new, nothing controversial, nothing offensive to major corporations or advertisers. If you have Insomnia, Google Knol will turn out to be a great page to read: it will make you start yawning right away! Yet there will be credentials and what passes for the ‘high road’ to quality.
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What does knol mean? Doesn’t sound like a “no”? :p
Perhaps its simply easier to copyright “Knol” than “Knowledge”.
I see a good deal of internet comment viewing this in terms of monetizing wikipedia.