Knol

] cite web |url = http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/12/googles_knol_no.html |title = Google's Knol: No Wikipedia Killer |date = 2007-12-14 |accessdate = 2007-12-14 |first = Rob |last = Hof |publisher = Businessweek] The non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, which owns the name Wikipedia and the servers hosting the Wikipedia projects, welcomed the Google Knol initiative saying that "The more good free content, the better for the world." [cite news |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=GOOG:US&sid=a59ru6R9d.DE |title=Google Starts Web Site Knol to Challenge Wikipedia |first=Ari |last=Levy |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2007-12-14 |accessdate=2007-12-15] While Wikipedia articles are written collectively under a "neutral point of view" policy,cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view|title=Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view] Knol will highlight personal expertise by emphasizing authorship and, like articles provided on Squidoo, HubPages, oondi.com, and Helium.com, knols will contain the personal opinions of the author. [cite web |url = http://svextra.com/blogs/gmsv/2007/12/googles_philosophy_knol_thyself.html |title = Google’s philosophy: Knol thyself |date = 2007-12-14 |accessdate = 2007-12-14 |first = John |last = Murrell |publisher = SiliconValley.com] Despite the official Wikimedia response and the differences in format, Wikimedia Foundation chair Florence Devouard has expressed concern over Knol's potential threat to Wikipedia in terms of the competition it will create. [ [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-December/036209.html [Foundation-l [Announcement update in board of trustees membership ] ] After Knol's beta launch, Google product manager Cedric Dupont responded to the idea that Google intended Knol to be a "Wikipedia killer" by saying, “Google is very happy with Wikipedia being so successful. Anyone who tries to kill them would hurt us.” The "New York Times" noted similarities in design between Knol and Wikipedia, such as use of the same font.cite news|url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/wikipedia-meet-knol/index.html?partner=rssnyt|title=Wikipedia, Meet Knol|last=Helft|first=Miguel|date=2008-07-23|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-07-23] Dupont responded that the use was simply a coincidence as it is a commonly used font.

Because of Knol's format, some have said Knol will be more like About.com than Wikipedia. According to Wolfgang Hansson, a writer at DailyTech, Knol may have been planned for About.com originally when it was up for acquisition. Hansson reported that several sources close to the sale said Google was planning to acquire About.com, but the executives at About.com learned Google was planning to move from About.com's model to a wiki-style model. That would have meant layoffs for all 500 or so "Guides" at About.com. [cite news|url = http://www.dailytech.com/Google+Announces+Knol+Wikipedialike+Service/article10043.htm|title = Google Announces Knol Wikipedia-like Service |date = 2007-12-14 |accessdate = 2007-12-14 |first = Wolfgang |last = Hansson |publisher = DailyTech]

Conflict of interest

There has been debate whether Google search results can remain neutral because of possible conflict of interest.cite news |url=http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/12/14/google-knols-wikipedia-tech-intel-cx_ag_1214knol.html |title=Google's Know-It-All Project |first=Andy |last=Greenberg |date=2007-12-14 |accessdate=2007-12-16 |publisher=Forbes] cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/technology/15web.html?ref=business |title=Wikipedia Competitor Being Tested by Google |first=Miguel |last=Helft |publisher="New York Times" |date=2007-12-15 |accessdate=2007-12-15 |quote=Some critics said that shift could compromise Google’s objectivity in presenting search results.] According to Danny Sullivan, "Google’s goal of making Knol pages easy to find on search engines could conflict with its need to remain unbiased." Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, raised similar concerns: "At the end of the day, there's a fundamental conflict between the business Google is in and its social goals. What you're seeing here, slowly, is Google embracing an advertising-driven model, in which money will have a greater impact on what people have ready access to."cite web |url=http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2007/12/google_knol |title=Knol Launch: Google's 'Units of Knowledge' May Raise Conflict of Interest |accessdate=2007-12-15 |last= Schiffman |first= Betsy | date=2007-12-14 |publisher=Wired] As a response to such concerns it has been pointed out that Google already hosts large amounts of content in sites like Google Base, Google Pages, YouTube, Blogger and Google Groups and that there is no significant difference in this case. Nicholas Carr, a frequent technology commentator, dismissed predictions of Google manipulating results saying that Google is hoping that the most popular Knol pages will rise naturally through the search results, challenging Wikipedia and providing another area of content that can carry Google ads. [cite web
url=http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2007/12/google_knol_tak.php |title=Google Knol takes aim at Wikipedia |first=Nicholas |last=Carr |authorlink=Nicholas Carr |date=2007-12-13 |accessdate=2007-12-14] [cite news|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119766297294329983.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|title=Google Targets Wikipedia With New 'Knol' Pages|last=Morrison|first=Scott|date=2007-12-14|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|accessdate=2008-07-24]

Since its announcement in December of 2007, there has also been speculation on Google's motives and its position as a producer of content rather than as an organizer. "The Guardian"'s Jack Schofield argued that "Knol represents an attack on the media industry in general." [cite news |url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/12/15/google_tries_knol_an_encyclopedia_to_replace_wikipedia.html |title=Google tries Knol, an encyclopedia to replace Wikipedia |date=2007-12-15 |accessdate=2007-12-15 |first=Jack |last=Schofield |authorlink=Jack Schofield |publisher=The Guardian]

References

External links

* [http://knol.google.com Knol Homepage]
* [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/encouraging-people-to-contribute.html Official Google blog post announcement of knol]
* [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/knol-is-open-to-everyone.html Knol is open to everyone] – Official Google blog post