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Google seems to be aiming its crosshairs directly towards the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, with the official launch of Knol.

Knol, the names comes from the short version of the word knowledge, is a different type of user-generated encyclopedia because every writer is identified with their photo and profile. After 7 months in beta phase, it is now open for everybody to share his or her expertise in diverse topics ranging from backpacking to molecular biology.

In contrast to Wikipedia, it does not rely on the community to add or verify information. Also, readers don’t have the right to edit the content. They can only rate them or write reviews about them. The idea is to make its content more reliable and authoritative. As a way to entice online users to contribute to Knol, Google is dangling revenue-sharing opportunities to writers via its publisher platform, Adsense.

Then again, I don’t think Knol is the Wikipedia-killer. Well, maybe not now, considering the colossal difference in terms of content. Besides, the aim of the Knol platform seems to be multi-directional since it can also hit the likes of About.com and Web 2.0 sites such as Squidoo and Hubpages once it gains traction.

Read [Knol] Read [ABC News]

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