Let’s play a little game called “Who Would Win in a Match-Up.”   If your choices were online video sites YouTube or Veoh, I’m confident that an overwhelming number of you would choose YouTube for the win.  Let’s try BMW versus Mercedes-Benz.  Hmm, that one’s not quite as clear cut, is it?  Now, how about the Macarena versus the Electric Slide?  Okay, consider that last one a trick question.  I had to keep you on your toes for what’s to come….

Knol versus Wikipedia.

Before you confuse Knol with a small natural hill or a large furniture company and answer unequivocally ‘Wikipedia,’ I’m going to break this one down for you.

In one corner, we have 6-year-old Wikipedia encyclopedia - one of the largest reference Web sites that attracts over 684 million visitors yearly, and has more than 75,000 active contributors working on more than 10 million articles in over 250 languages.   If you search nearly any keyword using Google, 9 times out of 10, a Wikipedia listing is on the first page.

In the other corner, with a public life span of one week, is Knol.  Knol “A Unit of Knowledge” is a searchable online resource with a variety of authoritative user-written articles about specific topics that the writers are experts in.   I recently wrote 3 articles, called “knols,” about Company Information, Business Directories, and How to Gain A Competitive Advantage in Business.  Unlike Wikipedia, Knol authors stand behind their published names and credentials.  Each knol is written by an individual, but can be edited by readers through a feature called “moderated collaboration.”  This allows the author of the knol to accept, reject or modify suggested changes before they are visible to the public.

Knol’s stats are nowhere close to being as impressive as Wikipedia’s (it opened in beta with a few hundred articles, predominantly in the health and medical field).  However, Knol is a strong underdog with great potential.   A ‘unit of knowledge’ worth recognizing is that Knol is a Google project that was invented by Udi Manber of Google.  If anyone can challenge Wikipedia as a top online reference resource, it’s a Google creation.   While Wikipedia has already established itself as one of the top 10 most visited sites on the internet, Knol holds the “Google Card” as its potential ace in the hole.  Search engines continue to be the primary tool used for searching the Web, and as of November, Google controlled nearly 70% of the search market share.

This raises another hot issue concerning the new Google Knol.  There have been serious debates as to whether it’s possible for Google to remain unbiased as it expands from information gatherer to information provider.  As it stands, Google plays a major role in the Web sites we view and those lost in cyberspace.   Although Google is reassuring users that they will rank their knols objectively and “appropriately,” debate is already emerging about whether Google has a possible or potential conflict of interest - especially in light of Google’s  advertising-driven model.   Those expressing unease include Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan.  In a recent blog post, Sullivan writes,

“I remain concerned that by hosting this content, it plays too much in the content owner space when its core business is supposed to be driving traffic outbound to others. Hosting content sets up inherent conflicts that over time start to erode the trust people have in Google, I feel.”

Trust is hard to gain, but easily lost.  Will even the slightest possibility of Google manipulating their position in the natural listings in order to make their pages easier to find begin to diminish your trust in the search engine?   Or, does Google have good intentions of closing an information hole that was left open in order to further assist searchers of knowledge?

Whether you’re a supporter or a challenger, Google Knol will remain in the rankings.  So, the biggest question still left to answer is whether Google Knol will knock Wikipedia off its proverbial pedestal for the number one spot in the competitive online reference world.  I suppose we’ll all have to wait for the photo finish, but one thing’s for certain - with their impressive track record, I would seriously think twice before betting against Google.

Like Wikipedia and Knol, Cortera provides quality, user-contributed information that we incorporate into our Free Company Profiles.  However, Cortera’s business information differs greatly from other user-contributed information providers in that all knowledge featured on our Website must first pass a rigorous screening process to ensure its authenticity.

Posted in Google, Information, Uncategorized
Permalink: http://blog.cortera.com/2008/08/05/knol-versus-wikipedia/