Google announced last night they are starting a project called knol that will allow anyone to create wiki-like pages on topics. In particular, Google is encouraging people who know a particular subject to write an "authoritative" article about it. The search engine will not vet any of the content, however, they will prioritize the most credible entries and rank them first in search results. It remains unclear how Google is measuring credibility - a scary thought.
Still, with this move Google is clearly targeting Wikipedia (which is perhaps their biggest rival) and quite possibly is trying to ensure that Jimmy Wales' forthcoming social search engine, Wikia, is dead on arrival. Consider the timing of this announcement. It comes just days before Wikia is set to launch in beta and when Google doesn't even have any site we can poke at.
My initial take on this is that knols are going to kill Wikipedia - but it will take time. This theory, however, hinges on whether people actually start creating knols, but I believe they will. Here are several reasons why Wikipedia and Wikia are dead ...
1) The fame factor - Google prioritizes knols over Wikipedia
In theory, Google no longer needs to rely on Wikipedia for fresh content. The search engine will prioritize content from its own system and rank the most credible articles more highly than anything in the open source encyclopedia. This alone will encourage people to add to the commons. It will take time though for Google to reach a critical mass with its knols. Do not underestimate the power of fame.
2) Official sources and experts are welcomed, not spurned.
I love the openness of Wikipedia. However, I have long chided its lack of openness toward corporations and other sources of authority. As much as we would like to think people don't want corporations playing in our sandbox, most average users welcome organization and multiple perspectives. This is why we still have a thriving profession called editors. When it comes to corporations, Google is open, Wikpedia is closed.
3) Infinite Resources
Wikipedia has been trying to raise money for a long time now. Meanwhile, Google has infinite resources and the most powerful marketing vehicle on the planet to push it.
I am excited about the launch of this initiative. It is my hope that corporations and organizations that play by the rules will be able to unleash their subject matter experts to add content to the commons in a way the community accepts. There's no reason they should be excluded, provided there is some degree of counter balance.
What's even more exciting is that it reinforces the role of PR in this new wild and wooly online world. Now granted, we will have to play by the knol rules and be transparent. Still, this is all very exciting and in the process it might even get Wikipedia to change some too - for the better.
