Aug 11th, 2008
Aug 11th, 2008
Terrible puns aside, Sunday’s New York Times explored an important question: Is Google a Media Company? It’s a topic I’ve blogged before on Search Engine Journal.
The distinction between being a search company and a media company - that is, one that hosts content rather than simply helping searchers find it - is an important one, especially for Google, which continues to insist that organizing the world’s information is its singular mission.
A few weeks ago, Google finally unveiled Knol - a Wikipedia competitor (though Google bristles at this comparison) where Internet users write “knols,” or articles, on topics they know well. Unlike Wikipedia, however, the authors of Knols are put front and center, and those authors have exclusive editorial control over their articles.
Though Google strenuously denies that Knols get any rankings boost simply for being a Google property, Knol articles are already ranking well in Google for numerous queries. Conspiracy theories are sure to abound.
Is Google abandoning their singular commitment to search, tempted by the money to be made by being in the content business? In a way, they already have. Exhibit A: YouTube. Exhibit B: Knol.
