Why Has Knol Survived Google's Orphan Project Killing Spree?
We had thought Google (GOOG) was all about frugality and focus now: In recent months, the search giant has been killing off failed experiments like Twitter-rival Jaiku, mobile social networking service Dodgeball and virtual world Lively.
But it's full steam ahead for Knol, Google's would-be Wikipedia of research and how-to articles. This weekend, Google announced a Knol contest with $1,000 for the best entry and some cross-promotion with dummies.com.
We're not sure what the thinking here is. Heck, we're not even sure what Knol is for. For a how-to, like performing car maintenance, we'll surf to a website that's run by car-fanatics. For general knowledge, Knol can't come close to touching Wikipedia. If anything, Knol seems to have a reputation for nothing so much as plagiarism, ignorance, and self-promotion.
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Bloggers like Will Edwards from ‘ITIL Talk’ are making the switch from blog to Knol. Here is what he said;
“We have now setup a Google Knol for the purpose of providing the online reference to ITIL V3. The Knol format makes it easier (than the blog format) for people to use, so that is the reason for the change”
The engineering of the Knol makes for effortless work in creating a multi-dimensional and highly engaging delivery of your uncommon and unique knowledge. As I see it, if a global player like Google wants to partner with you, a specific knowledge content provider, then why wouldn’t you. I have posted 20 Knols, 80% of which rank Top 10 and the issues of plagiarism of our knolls are dealt with by my partner. Sounds like a deal to me.