Knol, Google's Version of Wikipedia, Goes Public

Google's answer to Wikipedia is now live.

Google Knol emerged from its seven-month closed beta Wednesday, and is now open for people looking to share their expertise on everything from type 1 diabetes to how to backpack.

"With Knol, we are introducing a new method for authors to work together that we call 'moderated collaboration,'" Cedric Dupont, a Google product manager, and Michael McNally, a Google software engineer, wrote in a blog post. "With this feature, any reader can make suggested edits to a knol which the author may then choose to accept, reject, or modify before these contributions become visible to the public."

Knol, short for "knowledge," is essentially a cross between Wikipedia and About.com.

"The key principle behind Knol is authorship," wrote Dupont and McNally. "Every knol will have an author (or group of authors) who put their name behind their content. It's their knol, their voice, their opinion."

Users will be able to submit comments, rate, or write a review of a knol, they said. And not a company to shy away from a monetization opportunity, Google will provide knol authors the option to include AdSense ads alongside their knols.

"If an author chooses to include ads, Google will provide the author with a revenue share from the proceeds of those ad placements," according to the blog post.

Google also struck a deal with The New Yorker magazine to let people add one cartoon from the magazine per knol. "Cartoons are an effective (and fun) way to make your point, even on the most serious topics," Dupont and McNally said.

Knol, however, is not necessarily tied to Google Q&A, the company's rumored resurrection of the now defunct Google Answers.

When asked about ties between Knol and Google Q&A back in December when the Knol private beta was first announced, a spokeswoman said that "there is no association between Knol and the service you are referring to."

A majority of the knols currently featured on the site's main page deal with medical conditions - from tooth pain and high cholesterol to scabies and spinal stenosis. There are, however, some entries for buttermilk pancakes, toilet clogs, and wood trim.

This post originally appeared on AppScout.