…but what are they? On 23rd July, the long awaited Google Knol was made available to everyone, but as Landingnet has discovered, there’s been a mixed reception.

Google Knol is yet another addition to the Internet’s vast array of content depositories, such as About.com, Squidoo, Yahoo Answers and the infamous Wikipedia, but many web commentators are concerned that Google Knol will conflict with the search engine giant’s other interests.

Google Knol’s affect on SEO

One concern is whether the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) will favour Google hosted content through Knols, giving priority over non-Google web content. Google have categorically stated that this will not be the case, and that it already hosts content through tools such as YouTube and Blogger, which remain equally competitive amongst the millions of web-pages available on the Internet. But, if there are SEO advantages to be had by authoring content on Google Knol, it could send shockwaves through the search engine marketing world.

Google Knol and duplicated content

However, Aaron Wall from SEO book has found that by virtually duplicating one of his SEO guides into a Google Knol, the Knol now ranks higher in Google’s SERPS than the original guide elsewhere. Quite what the Internet marketing community should make of all this at this early stage is unclear, but it is certainly something that we’ll be watching closely over the coming months.

Google state that the purpose of Knol and the Knols (a unit of information) it contains are to generate content by providing a place for ‘authors’ to publish their knowledge. Unlike other online content tools, Knols can be published and remain ‘owned’ by the author. The author in turn can allow the level of editing that others can make to their Knol.

This way, Google believes that Knols will provide authority to every article and subject site.

Is Wikipedia left with Knol-where to go?

Others however, especially Wikipedia supporters, believe that the whole Knol exercise is a cynical move by Google to compete with its online user content generated encyclopedia.

Google again deny that this is the case, and have stated that Google Knol will compliment Wikipedia, which it recognises as a good resource. With Wikipedia having received some bad press in recent months due to the sometimes spurious accuracy of its content, the last thing the giant online encyclopedia needs is an aggressive competitor.

Knol-velty?

The most probable outcome however, is that Google Knol will become an accepted addition to the online community and will be used to its full advantage by businesses and aspiring professors alike, to showcase their services and knowledge. However, like everything that has user content generation as its founding principle, everyone should take special care before taking anything that’s written as gospel!

Adding to the increasing complexity of the AdWords “Quality Score” algorithm, Google has announced that page loading times will soon become a key factor.

The intention is that sites runing advert-heavy pages will be penalised in an effort to improve the “user experience”. Google claims conversion rates are lower when page loading times are poor, as users abandon the site, a claim supported by many frustrated browsers.

Losers

Flash Sites and Image-Heavy Websites – as Flash sites tend to require more image requests from the server than a typical html site, they may be penalised under the new calculations.

Poorly Hosted Websites – the jury is still out on whether cheaper hosting packages result in slower server responses, but inferior hardware undoubtedly takes its toll.

Winners

Text-Only Sites – we might see retailers using incredibly simple text-only landing pages (or maybe defaulting to the low-graphics accessibility pages?).

Google have not (and will not) release details of how much effect loading times will have on the quality score, for all we know it could be minimal, but Google are generally very commited to providing the best search results for their users. There are several conspiracy theories and there is no doubt that any changes will benefit Google’s profit margins but ultimately those who abide by the rules will be rewarded.

The media has been inundated over the last few days with details of the proposed Yahoo buy-out by Microsoft for £23bn.

Google is said to be concerned and wants regulators to oversee the deal, as it would allow one company too much control over email and instant messaging accounts.

Over the last few years, both MSN and Yahoo have failed to make any major dents in Google AdWords monopoly of the search engine market.

Google still represent in excess of 70% of searches made via the internet, with MSN and Yahoo fluctuating between 2% and 10% over the last 5 years.

Various shake-ups and “aggressive restructures” have failed to improve the situation at Yahoo and the final quarter of 2007 saw a 27% drop in profits.

This is a potentially exciting time for pay per click marketing as ROI (return on investment) and customer service from MSN and Yahoo have been well documented as far inferior to Google.

The merger/acquisition may finally create a search engine platform that can challenge Google, hopefully providing a few incentives for advertisers to reassess the distribution of their search engine marketing budgets.

LandingNet await the outcome with baited breath!