For whom the Google Knols…
Story byDavid Petherick
Scotsman David Petherick is a director & co-founder of several companies, and provides social media strategy & visibility services.(show all)ScotsmanDavid Petherickis a director & co-founder of several companies, and providessocial mediastrategy & visibility services. David became known as ‘The Digital Biographer’ after a 2007BBC radio interview, speaksRussian, wears the Kilt, and is a co-author for the books ‘Age of Conversation 2.0, & 3.0’.
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Google, why I can’t verify my identity?
However, one issue that seems a very basic oversight is that ‘Name Verification’ (so you can verify that you, as an author, are who you say you are) is only available for those based in the USA. The systems available for those Knol authors in the USA are via Phone or Credit Card checks. Pardon me for pointing out theobvious, but there are telephone directories and credit cards used all over the world, Google. The raised credibility that Google cites arising from verifying yourself is therefore, at present, reserved exclusively for you only if you live in the USA.
So if you live anywhere outside the USA, do not send to know for whom Google knols, it does not knol for thee. (Apologies for that play on words toJohn Donne)
This is not the sort of even-handed approach you’d expect from a global player like Google – and the fact that there is no mention of OpenID or even Google’s own identity systems like Google Checkout or Adsense strikes me as amissed opportunity, even for a beta-stage development. The fact that one can share revenue with Google by electing whether or not to show Google Adsense Adverts on one’s Knol content makes this a very strange omission, and I fear, one that may open Knol up to a lot of spam entries or gaming.
I managed to log in and add a Knol to Google this morning entitled ‘How to read Russian in 75 Minutes‘ (I’ve proved that this works in a 75-minute lecture in 2005, by the way) but at present, my Knol on Reading Russian only appears in a search when I am logged in with a Google login (the login I use for Gmail, Google Reader etc), but it the knol is reachable with a link, whether or not I am logged in.
However, the range of ‘Featured Knols’ as samples that appeared on my screen today had me speechless – they covered Diabetes, Lung Cancer, Toilet Clogs and Tooth pain.Wow. Maybe that’s Google’s way of encouraging you to add better content – or at least, to add more cheerful and uplifting content!
