Google has launched their latest application- Knol. Knol is very similar to Wikipedia. People who know about specific topics are allowed to write about them for others to reference. It is an easy tool to use and eliminates some of the clutter associated with the typical Google search.
A new generation of search engines are starting to become publicly available and so it’s time to start thinking about how they will affect SEO efforts.
The new search engines I’m talking about are the semantic search engines, meaning they are search engines that can be queried using natural language (not keywords like when using Google). Behind the scenes, these search engines try to understand the meaning behind the text web pages and so when you query them, they map what your query means and find answer based on the meaning they’ve extracted. It’s all very neat, and there are many examples: Powerset (which Microsoft recently acquired), Hakia, [true knowledge], Cognition and a few others.
Google Maps has added a More tab to enhance a users expererience. If you click on the More tab on Google Maps, you now have access to geo-tagged videos, pictures and Wikipedia references. I had a chance to check it out for a few minutes and it is a pretty cool feature, however it was very slow when I used it. This got me thinking a little- if someone is using Google Maps, they are probably just looking for simple, fast directions; not clutterred, time-consuming directions. Knowing Google, I’m certain they will streamline to provide consumers with what they need quicker.
Google is taking direct aim at the Wikipedia model with their new product offering dubbed ‘Knol’. One of the big differences in the sites is anonymity. The author of the content will be a central focus of the content posted for Google’s new product. After submission, the community will have the opportunity to provide feedback, ratings and feedback which the author can decide to accept or reject. I anticipate this to be another distribution channel for Google’s ads, although Google seems to be downplaying that aspect of the product.
The mental and physical fatigue was very apparent on the group as a whole today. Those I witnessed in earlier breakouts engaging in intense question and answer sessions remained rather quiet today. As a collective group, everyone was quietly absorbing the material being presented. It might also have something to do with the scheduled 6-7p Networking Cocktail Reception in the Exhibit Hall from last night; doubtful though.