Google moves from algorithms to...content?

Posted by Peter Berger Aug 14, 2008

It's been a few weeks since Google launched their new Knol site, described by Silicon Alley Insider (and others) as a "Wikipedia killer."

To me Knol seems to be an easy-to-use tool, with a clean interface. It has the potential to be a competitor to sites that are free-for-alls in terms of writing and posting content (see above site, starts with W ends with A) but I have yet to see what new elements it adds to this category.

The bigger question for other sites that publish information and articles online is: should we be nervous? At Suite101 for example, we are able to pay our writers from the Google Ads that sit beside each article. When Google joins the party (as they did with the launch of Knol, where authors can choose to gather the revenue their posts make from Google Ads) it raises some questions.

Some commentators, such as Calacanis in this post, have made a fair point in suggesting that Google should clarify better what they are: do they want to be a publishers' partner or a competitor? They might even want to consider removing themselves from the publishing playing field to keep the trust of their partners.

For example, might Knol articles receive higher ranking in a Google search, compared to articles on the same topic on other publishing sites?

On the positive side, this presents opportunities for more professional sites to differentiate themselves, and in doing so, to build trust among readers. Right now Knol is open to all, even those who want to be anonymous or use pseudonyms. (For example, their "Verified" feature checks that a contributor exists via their credit card info, but not via their credentials.)

Requiring that writers be responsible and accountable has helped online publishers like Suite101, attract a loyal readership.

That’s been our strength – stewarding the unbiased creation of trusted content. Google's strength has been creating efficient search algorithms that help people find the content.

Helping people find information is one thing. Creating a trusted community online where writers share it with readers is another. Google is great at algorithms, we are great at working with qualified writers. And the 8 million monthly readers that keep coming back to Suite confirm that this makes a good online match: trusted advice powered by Google's trusted algorithms.

As a believer in the idea of sticking with "what you know best," it will be interesting to see where Knol goes.