It was December last year when we first heard about Google Knol, touted as the “Wiki Killer”. Well, Google has finally put the finishing touches to Knol and opened it to the public.

Don’t expect Knol to be the “Wiki Killer” though as it is actually quite different to Wikipedia, most notably though with what Google calls “moderated collaboration”.

This means that users/readers can only suggest edits to the articles in Knol. It is then up to the article’s author to accept or reject those suggested modifications. Unlike Wikipedia, the author has full control over the article, which seems quite logical considering their name is attached to the article.

Another major difference between Wikipedia and Google Knol is the fact that Google plans to actually make money from Knol by giving authors the option to include AdSense ads in their articles. Google is effectively offering a monetary incentive to create good content. So, in theory, the best articles will get the most attention, and in turn the most revenue.

So if you know a lot about a particular subject and would like to earn a little extra cash on the side, then why not check out Google Knol.