Google Has a Better Idea

Google has just announced a new initiative called Knol, which will compete with Wikipedia.

Unlike the anonymously written articles on Wikipedia, the articles in Knol will be signed by their credentialed authors and will rise in Google's PageRank like other web pages. Reader's will be able to rate the articles and provide comments to the author.

Google will provide both the web hosting and the authoring interface tools for Knol. Authors may optionally choose to have ads inserted into their articles, in which case they will earn a share of the ad revenues.

Wikipedia Redux

It's been a busy week for Wikipedia watchers, with three in-depth articles in the UK Register and one in the UK Guardian reviewing and analyzing a tapestry of misadventures involving high-level figures in the Wikipedia power structure.

The disclosures reveal both structural and ethical issues that have divided the participants and observers into rival camps espousing competing interpretations, philosophies, and practices.

Whether Wikipedia can achieve a stable and sustainable model remains to be seen.

The jury is still out, but there is some ominous handwriting on the wall:

Money, money, token and portion.

One thing is clear. The negative press is not helping the fund drive one bit.