Write For Google's "Knol" and Get Paid

Internet search giant Google Inc. is all set to challenge Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia available on the Web, by launching a web-based publishing platform similar to Wikipedia.

Google, on Wednesday, launched its own Internet encyclopedia, dubbed "knol," which the search engine company asserts would pose a potential challenge to Wikipedia, the articles of which tend to rank highly in Google search results.

First announced in December last year, the new user-generated online encyclopedia from Google though allows users to share their knowledge in the same way as the Wikipedia platform, but with key differences.

Unlike Wikipedia, Google’s publishing-and-reference service Knol allows users to write articles on their own areas of expertise under their bylines and, again in contrast to Wikipedia, all editorial responsibilities and control will rest with the authors. Anyone can write an article on almost anything and can earn money from them. The encyclopedia Wikipedia allows anonymity.

"We are deeply convinced that authorship -- knowing who wrote what -- helps readers trust the content," said Cedric DuPont, product manager for Knol.

All the entries on the public website, knol.google.com, are called "knols". Contrary to Wikipedia, where anybody can change almost any article, entries in the Knol encyclopedia can't be edited or revised by other people. However, the service allows readers to rank and review others' entries, which will be interpreted by Google's search engine when displaying results. Readers will also be able to notify Google if they find any content objectionable.

Google will not edit any individual knol in any way and will not certify any content, but it will decide the order in which the “knols” are ranked within its search engine. Different knols on the same subject will coexist, but entries that Google rates to be of higher quality will be given a higher page ranking in Google search.

Google signed a deal with Conde Nast's The New Yorker magazine that allows Knol authors use New Yorker’s famous cartoons in each Knol posting. Also, authors will be able to enable or disable ads showing up on their entries. If the authors choose to enable advertising, Google will share with them a significant portion of the revenue they produce.

In its early stages, Knol remains a far cry from Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org, which boasts 7 million collectively edited articles in 200 languages.

DuPont said that rather than competing with Wikipedia, the goal of the Knol is to provide information on a wide range scientific, medical, geographical, historical, entertainment and other topics. According to him, Google intends the knol to develop into a warehouse of knowledge. "Knols will fill gaps on what we have on the Web today. That is what we hope," DuPont said.

Launched in January 2001, Wikipedia, the anyone-can-edit encyclopedia, is a noncommercial project that is one of the Web’s most popular sites. Any individual who has access to the website can edit content. Wikipedia has been inviting controversy off and on, over its reliability and accuracy due to the fact that readers can edit entries.

Wikipedia operates with servers in Florida, Amsterdam, and Seoul, and has more than 8 million articles in 253 languages.