What’s hot on the Internet since the past few days is that Google is preparing to launch a new service call Knol, a free tool to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it. For now, the tool is still in development and is still in the first phase of testing.
What’s interesting is that the idea is perhaps not new, as they are very similar to what Wikipedia and Squidoo are offering. The general Internet users will get a chance to contribute to the articles on Knol if you are knowledgeable on the subject. Some speculate that this will be the end of Wikipedia when Know is fully launched in full force. Just like now where first page search is full of Google’s properties such as YouTube, Google Images, and other Google products. Google can definitely put more weight on Knol and have Knol pages appear higher in search results compared to Wikipedia. By then Wikipedia’s traffic will suffer and users interest might just switch to Knol.
A point worth mentioning is Knol will allow revenue sharing through AdSense ads placed within the contributed articles. I believe this itself will be the most attractive feature to get lots of contributed articles from everyone of us. Indeed, yet another channel for us to make money online! Soon.
Read more detailed analysis on Techcrunch: Google Knol: A Step Too Far? and Mashable: Google Introduces the Knol.