Google's Knol Ringing Across the Web

If only Google had thought to add another L to the end of the name, the title of this blog post would really work out well.

It seems everywhere I turn the last week or so I keep hearing about Google Knol, a new user-submitted content system that Google recently announced on their blog. I've heard everything from it being the Wikipedia-killer to it being aimed straight at About.com.

There has also been the voices of reason speaking up from within the crowd, and I hope people will listen to these voices. They are saying that the Google name doesn't mean "smash hit popular app sure to win over the hearts and minds over everyone in the world."

Simply put, it could as easily be a crash and burn as it could be the next big thing.

Personally, I don't know quite what to think of Google Knol. I know a lot of people are talking about Wikipedia and About.com, but it sounds more like Associated Content and Suite101 to me. There are plenty of post-your-content sites out there, and many of them have some type of revenue-sharing plan set up.

Whether Google Knol is the next evolution of wiki, or if it is just another user-submitted content site, we'll just have to wait and see. But, at this stage, I think it is way too early to proclaim it the next king of the mountain.