Google said Tuesday it was continuing its process of eliminating products that have not had the anticipated impact, have been integrated elsewhere, or weren't in step with its new . In all, Google has announced that it has pruned seven products in this, its third-round, of off-season "spring cleaning." Included on the list are Gears and Knol.
Google today revealed Knol, the company's own alternative to open online encyclopedias. Refering to entries as "knols" (knowledge units) rather than the "wikis" of Wikipedia, the service will share the same open, user-submitted approach to information but will emphasize the credibility sometimes lacking in such sites. Authors can be named for each article, with detailed references at the bottom; visitors can also rate articles to praise or criticize the effort involved. Users with questions will similarly have an opportunity to ask questions of the author as well as make Wikipedia-like edits to a text if they want to make an addition or edit the text.
