Knol - Google's new encyclopedia knowledge website

The search engine giant Google has recently made its online encyclopedia service website http://knol.google.com/ available to the public, allowing people to publish articles under their real names on topics in their field of expertise. This is different from the approach of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that allows information providers to remain anonymous.

"Knol" provides a publishing platform similar to a personal blog homepage. However, unlike blogs, "Knol" encourages authors to condense topics they know into a single page. Content is not updated in chronological order but rather entries are ranked by popularity to encourage competition.

"Knol" does not edit or guarantee the content of the information. Visitors cannot edit or add content to "Knol" unless they have the author's permission. If readers have objections to the content, they can inform Google.