Google Getting into Article Directories

A Google web clip from the company’s blog caught my eye this morning: Encouraging people to contribute knowledge.

I’m all for that. But after reading the blog post, I feel like I need to have a shower.

Google starts off by stating that, “The web contains an enormous amount of information.” Oh yeah, I hear you there, buddy.

I cheered at the next few statements Google made: “But not everything is written nor is everything well organized to make it easily discoverable.” I often become frustrated myself sifting through the crap to find the hidden gems. I often wish there was more on a specific topic or better information about a subject.

Google proposes a new tool called a “knoll”, or a unit of knowledge. “Our goal is to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it,” claims Google.

Hm. I’m already starting to think about article directories, of which there are more than enough out there already.

“The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight authors,” Google goes on. Alright, cool. I keep reading. “Somehow the web evolved without a strong standard to keep authors names highlighted. We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content.”

Um, they lost me right there. Sure, knowing who wrote what helps, if that author is a leading expert or a well-known authority. But I’m an author. Do people run around saying, “James wrote this, therefore, it must be good!”

That’d sure be nice, but I doubt it.

Here’s where Google starts to really get into trouble: “Writers only need to write; we’ll do the rest.” They go on to state that, “Anyone will be free to write.”

We’re right back to article directory, so-called experts hiring ghostwriters to compose content on anything from peanut butter to yeast infections and passing off the research and claims as their own, and people with no particular expertise, authority or education submitting all kinds of content.

I was right. Google’s coming up with just another article directory like the rest.

But wait! “At the discretion of the author, a knol may include ads,” offers Google. “If an author chooses to include ads, Google will provide the author with substantial revenue share from the proceeds of those ads.”

Ahhhhh, the Almighty Dollar and yet another revenue scheme: Content from anyone loaded with ads to make money.

But Google admits this: “Participation in knols will be completely open, and we cannot expect that all of them will be of high quality. Our job in Search Quality will be to rank the knols appropriately when they appear in Google search results.”

We’re back to square one of accomplishing nothing new. Focus is on page ranking and highest hits, content that ranges from crap quality to outstanding material, all of it lumped together, and ads that pad someone’s wallet.

Honestly, I’d kind of hoped for better. Thanks for the disappointment, Google.