Google announced last night they are starting a project called knol that will allow anyone to create wiki-like pages on topics. In specific, Google is encouraging humans who know a specific subject to write an “authoritative” editorial about it. The search engine will not vet any of the subject matter, however, they will prioritize the most credible entries and rank them first in search results. It remains unclear how Google is measuring credibility - a scary thought.

Still, with that move Google is clearly targeting Wikipedia (which is perhaps their biggest rival) and quite possibly is trying to ensure that Jimmy Wales’ forthcoming social search engine, Wikia, is dead on arrival. Consider the timing of that announcement. It comes just days before Wikia is set to launch in beta and when Google doesn’t even have any site we can poke at.

My initial take on that is that knols are going to kill Wikipedia - but it will take moment. that theory, however, hinges on whether society actually start creating knols, but I believe they will. Here are several reasons why Wikipedia and Wikia are dead …

1) The fame factor - Google prioritizes knols by Wikipedia

In theory, Google no longer needs to rely on Wikipedia for fresh subject matter. The search engine will prioritize substance from its own system and rank the most credible articles more highly than anything in the open source encyclopedia. that alone will energize humans to add to the commons. It will take instance though for Google to reach a critical mass with its knols.

Do not underestimate the potential of fame.

2) Official sources and experts are welcomed, not spurned.

I love the openness of Wikipedia. However, I have long chided its lack of openness toward corporations and other sources of authority. As much as we would like to think society don’t want corporations playing in our sandbox, most average users welcome organization and multiple perspectives. that is why we still have a thriving profession called editors. When it comes to corporations, Google is open, Wikpedia is closed.

3) Infinite Resources

Wikipedia has been trying to raise money for a faraway instance now. Meanwhile, Google has infinite resources and the most compelling marketing vehicle on the planet to push it.

I am excited about the launch of that initiative. It is my hope that corporations and organizations that play by the rules will be able to unleash their subject matter experts to add substance to the commons in a way the community accepts. There’s no reason they should be excluded, provided there is some degree of counter balance.

What’s even more exciting is that it reinforces the role of PR in that new wild and wooly online world. Now granted, we will have to play by the knol rules and be transparent. Still, that is all very exciting and in the process it might even get Wikipedia to change some too - for the better.