Could Knol Be Google’s Downfall?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

There are a lot of articles around the net at present regarding Google’s Wikipedia like concept; aptly named Knol. Much of the talk has revolved around the high rankings that some Knol’s are already receiving.

As a frequent search user, it can be frustrating to continually see Wikipedia pages at the top of the search results. One recent search returned three entries in the top ten, two in the top five. If Knol also starts to rank highly, will I start to find three, four or perhaps five of the top results pointing to either Wikipedia or Knol? If so, I will be looking at other search engines to find relevant information.

From and SEO point of view, Knol may not be of much use. It will mean having to work harder if we want to outrank the entries on Knol and Wikipedia. More importantly, if Google’s search results do start to return pages from these two entities then optimizing for the smaller engines may become more important.

From Google’s perspective, paid results clicks may well go through the roof. If the results returned are from Wikipedia or Knol, the searcher can either refine their search or make a selection from the paid results. Searchers are generally lazy so the paid results will often be their first option. PPC campaigns will really need to concentrate on getting high positions on the paid results and be well written to attract the click.

User satisfaction is low when it comes to the major search engines. SEO will need to readdress their approach to social marketing and social optimization in an attempt to replace any loss of organic traffic through the search engines.

Ultimately, if users cannot find what they are looking for because those entries are buried amongst the Knol’s and Wikipedia entries then they will go elsewhere. Will they leave in sufficient numbers to affect the major search engines? Only time will tell and this will depend on highly these Knols rank once the dust has settled.

I am sure Google’s aim is to outperform Wikipedia in this area so over time get used to seeing a Knol at number one and at least one Wikipedia entry at number two. As for SEO, the future has become uncertain again. What is obvious is that you will need to be thorough with your page optimization and perhaps think seriously of using experts in the SEO field to gain the most benefits possible.