Knol is a four letter word

Knol is a four letter word. It is, according to the Book of Google, ".. an authoritative article about a specific topic."

Knol is yet another Google product. It is a rival to Wikipedia. (Knol = Knowledge) which isn't a 4 letter word but was (unlike Google) founded on the fruits of pornography. The principal and primary difference , is the authors(s) are listed , identified and not anonymous and retain (so far) editing control. A nice thought, is that the Dutch steamcleaning equipment company owns http://www.knol.com/ and won't sell. Which is why http://knol.google.com/k#
will get you there. Google "knol" and it shows as second to Stock Market Ticker KNOL

Google , "envisions Knol as a place where experts can share their knowledge on a variety of topics. It hopes to create a sort of online encyclopedia built from the contributions of scores of individuals" .. Notably they can place Google ads. (Like you can with Blogger - do you see any ?) ... and maybe may score a higher rank in searches on Google ???? ... type in "buttermilk pancakes" in Google.

For example david petherick comments on his experience ..

The Google Knol I created just yesterday entitled 'How to Read the Russian Alphabet in 75 Minutes' is already appearing on Page 1 of a Google Search for "read russian" with 12,300,000 results following. I have updated the title within Knol from the one showing in the Google index, but that's still a pretty impressive result for content that I created and put online only yesterday.

Knol is 3 weeks old , unknown and until this post is posted, obscure.

Google has always said it will never compromise the objectivity of its search results - when asked ...it treats Knol pages like any other pages on the Web. “When you see Knol pages rank high, they are there because they have earned their position,” said Gabriel Stricker, a spokesman for Google quoted in the NYT. This in entertainingly discussed at Infothought
and here at sphinn

Knol is merely a tool for others to create and publish information, and once they do, Mr. Stricker said, “our job, which is to organize that information, kicks in.” Google does not own copyrights to the Knol content, and the site will not carry the Google logo.

Martin A. Nisenholtz, is the big cheese and senior vice president of digital operations at the Times Company, which own About.com and was asked if Knol posed a threat to About.com. “About.com is very well positioned in the marketplace.”

Some media companies, like WebMD, have already begun posting their content on Knol.

“We participated in Google Knol as a test, as we’ve done with other, similar offerings,” a WebMD spokeswoman, Jennifer Newman, said in an e-mail message to the NYT. “We are evaluating its effectiveness in further building brand awareness for WebMD.”

Wikipeda gets a lot of flak... it provides a good (in many cases excellent) kicking off point for any research - look at the History of Israel or the biographies of closet homosexual LabourPrime Ministers and don't expect or get objectivity. Wiki has a zillion articles and light years start even if it was launched on the back of revenue from pornography. See post Monday, March 27, 2006
100 things you didn't know about Wikipedia for the rather odd tales about Bomis (founded 1966)and Jimmy Wales.

Knol doesn't somehow have the "feel" we are used to with Wiki -it's another source and author identification (can this be checked ?) helps to provide rigour and authenticity.

Have a look and a play - Postman Patel's RED HOT TIP Try Google search and add "Knol" as a prefix or a suffix and note the difference(s) in search results.