Google starts Wikipedia rival

Google has announced that it has begun a project to compile an index of learned articles on a variety of topics.

The index will be searchable and available to surfers for free, similar to online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

However, there are some differences - for example, the articles will be bylined rather than anonymous.

Selected trials of the service, called 'knol', have begun this week and is currently invite-only, with no word on when it will be officially launched.

"Our goal is to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it," said Udi Manber, vice-president of Engineering at Google.

Manber said that knowing who it was who contributed the information would be of benefit to surfers.

"We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content," he said.

Google's aim is to make the service the first place that someone looks when researching a particular topic.

"A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read. The goal is for knols to cover all topics, from scientific concepts, to medical information, from geographical and historical, to entertainment, from product information, to how-to-fix-it instructions," Manber said.

To see an example of a knol, click here.

www.google.com

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