Google Develops Wikipedia Rival

Wall Street Journal:

Google Inc. is taking aim at popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia with a new service that will let users write authoritative entries on subjects they know about -- and provide the Internet search engine with more content that can carry its ads.

The new platform, which is being privately tested, will allow users to create Web pages that contain their photos and entries about a wide variety of subjects. The pages will be known as "knols," which Google said stands for a unit of knowledge.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[InofTouch]

Next Headline

Google develops Skynet :thumbup:

[drolleen]

The lord of the net

As with Microsoft, Google grows big and arrogant, but they are more corrupt then Microsoft, and more dangerous.

It is trying to take the power away from the open source crowd, because it can't be advertised on and advertising gold is all that counts.

They have to justify the huge increase in their share value, at any cost.

Wikis are the voice of the people. Google China story, where they gave the Chinese the names of dissidents using gmail, no longer looks like an isolated incident.

One source for information that beat wikis, like one browser that beat Netscape, is like one ring: "One ring to find them all, and in the darkness bind them".

[sculptor]

Google's knock-off will only be as good as those that contribute to it. I have contributed (in my area of specialization) to Wikipedia but I have no intention of doing Google any favors.

[eman]

man gets incorrect phone bill in another country.

NATIONAL NEWS FOR TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS!!!

[loki]

As long as its not a reference source that people can just edit to suit their personal agenda like Wikipedia, it wont be too bad.

[JMEB]

This is completely different from Wikipedia. It's going head to head against sites like Hubpages and Squidoo.

[SD61]

This will be a huge success for Google. Mark my words. Everybody has a theory, and everybody wants their name in lights.

This article (and the website it sits on) is proof:

http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/07dec/article016.html

[wadenelson1]

Wikipedia already has an entry about Google's product. Take that, Google! ;)

[strifeknot]

So, this will be Wikipedia plastered with ads. No thanks.

[whillice]

Good. Those wikipedia nerds and their standards about "no original research" and attribution.

I'd write things like "The sky is blue" which is self-evident and it would get tagged as "citation needed."

Hopefully google will overcome this problem.