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Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
December 20, 2007
Google Building its Own Version of Wikipedia
By Raju Shanbhag TMCnet Contributing Editor
Lured by the amazing popularity of the online encyclopedia wikipedia.org, Google (News - Alert) is building its own version of communally-constructed online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Wikipedia consistently ranks among the most visited web sites in the world. Unlike Google search results, which are largely managed by robots, Wikipedia works like an encyclopedia with contributors from all around the world.
According to a report in AFP, Google is inviting some select people to test a free service dubbed "knol," to indicate a unit of knowledge. The company is looking to encourage people who can write articles authoritatively to write for Google’s new project.
There is a major difference between the way Wikipedia works and the way Knol will supposedly work. Wikipedia lets the users make changes to online articles trusting that people with correct information will change the possible errors in the article, Google will invite the authors to author their articles where their names will be provided at the end or beginning of the article. Also, pictures of the authors will be displayed on their pages.
Google does not plan to edit or endorse any of the articles written on its new knowledge center. The responsibility of the content lies with the author and since their names will be published; their reputation will be at stake if they provide the wrong content.
Also, while Wikipedia merges topic entries in single articles, in Knol, the articles written on the same subjects will remain separate and "compete" for the attention of visitors, who will be able to give online feedback.
While Wikipedia remains completely free of advertisements, Google plans to let the authors display advertisements on their content pages and share the revenue with Google, much like how it works for Blogger.com.
If Google is able to lure the visitors of Wikipedia to its Knol, then the company will have one more source of revenue to profit from.
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Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP
Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
Today’s featured White Paper (News - Alert) is titled VoIP Doesn’t Require Any Phone Equipment Investment, brought to you by Accessline.
According to a report in AFP, Google is inviting some select people to test a free service dubbed "knol," to indicate a unit of knowledge. The company is looking to encourage people who can write articles authoritatively to write for Google’s new project.
There is a major difference between the way Wikipedia works and the way Knol will supposedly work. Wikipedia lets the users make changes to online articles trusting that people with correct information will change the possible errors in the article, Google will invite the authors to author their articles where their names will be provided at the end or beginning of the article. Also, pictures of the authors will be displayed on their pages.
Google does not plan to edit or endorse any of the articles written on its new knowledge center. The responsibility of the content lies with the author and since their names will be published; their reputation will be at stake if they provide the wrong content.
Also, while Wikipedia merges topic entries in single articles, in Knol, the articles written on the same subjects will remain separate and "compete" for the attention of visitors, who will be able to give online feedback.
While Wikipedia remains completely free of advertisements, Google plans to let the authors display advertisements on their content pages and share the revenue with Google, much like how it works for Blogger.com.
If Google is able to lure the visitors of Wikipedia to its Knol, then the company will have one more source of revenue to profit from.
----------
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP
Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.Today’s featured White Paper (News - Alert) is titled VoIP Doesn’t Require Any Phone Equipment Investment, brought to you by Accessline.
