The web’s largest reference work, Wikipedia, is in danger of losing its predominance to a new Google kid on the block, named “knol”.
Google engineer, Udi Manber, said, knol will invite “people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it”.
The name knol derives from “knowledge” and the service will be free to read online. However, knol’s authors will be able to attach advertising to their work and take a share of revenues. “The goal is for knol to cover all topics, from scientific concepts to entertainment,” Udi Manber said.
The Times (London) reports, “The project is the latest to distance Google from its roots in internet search and pitch it against well-established rivals in a new sector. The company recently squared up to the mobile phone industry by unveiling its own operating system for hand-held devices. It is also set to bid for a portion of America’s airwaves that it could use to build a wireless broadband network.”
Knol is currently an invitation-only beta service but it’s likely to be open to the public within months.
“In October, Wikipedia, which relies on donations for funds, was visited by 107 million people, or a third of the “active global internet population”, according to Nielsen Online, the analyst. That made it the eighth most-visited online destination.”
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