Google has announced the launch of its Knol feature, a Web site dedicated to providing user-generated articles on a range of topics, similar to Wikipedia, CyberJournalist reported Wednesday.

Jack Schofield, a Guardian blogger, warned that Knol may harm the media industry since writers not only have the chance to sidestep editors, but also will be able to earn money from the ad revenues on their pages.

A “knol” or a “unit of knowledge” will offer articles on a wide range of topics, written by experts on those subjects. Individual knols will be treated like Web pages, indexed in Google's search engine, according to CyberJournalist.

"The ultimate goal is: we want to improve search," said Cedric Dupont, Knol product manager, according to ZDNet.co.uk.

The difference between Knol and Wikipedia is that the latter has anonymous articles that are edited a multitude of times, the Guardian reported. Knols stresses authorship, Dupont said.

Knols may be edited if the author opts for the “moderated-collaboration” mode, but he or she has the right to chose what changes may be made, reported ZDNet.co.uk reported.

Google partnered with the New Yorker magazine to let authors add cartoons from the publication to their knolls, according to ZDNet.co.uk.

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