Google Launches Knol, the Wikipedia Alternative

Techtree News Staff, Jul 24, 2008 0857 hrs IST

Google has launched Knol, an alternative to Wikipedia with both check and reward mechanisms

Google has launched Knol (from: knowledge), the Wikipedia alternative that both polices and rewards contributers. The reward mechanism is due to integration of AdSense into the articles, with a revenue share between the authors of a particular topic.

A group of authors are allowed to create an article, or a Knol, this group then moderates the article by acting as gatekeeper to any changes made by other users outside the creator group. This imparts a sense of ownership to the author group. More than one knol can be created on a subject. Each knol can be rated by a group of users; rating which would perhaps be leveraged to search and sift through the numerous knols sure to be created on a topic.

On the surface, this seems like a good system: on the one hand you have accountability, and on the other, incentive attached to that accountability. A good article would be a popular article, and a popular article would be more likely to get AD revenue. The circle is of a positive feedback. It would be an interesting social experiment to see which one of the two: Wikipedia -- which encourages social contribution to further group knowledge, or Knol -- which throws in a dash of capitalism to the mix; will be embraced by the larger community. Of course, there is no reason why both could not co-exist, perhaps Google could link out to related Wikipedia articles and vice-versa.

As an aside: as of the time of writing this -- there doesn't seem to be a Knol for Wikipedia, whereas there is a Wikipedia entry for Knol. Yes, we know, early days for Knol but still worth a chuckle.