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Google builds Wikipedia custom search engine

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google-wikipedia-custom-search-screenshotThe power of Google’s custom search, which has been available to webmasters for around three years, is now to be found on Wikipedia.

It’s common for Wikipedia to be used for research purposes now, despite the occasional curveballs it throws out, and now Google’s search technology should make it easier to find relevant information more quickly.

A key feature is contextual search which only considers pages that are linked to a particular Wikipedia entry. This is great when a word has multiple meanings, as it helps to sift out irrelevant information. [Read more…]

Originally posted on October 27, 2009 @ 8:09 am

Physicians using Web 2.0 tools to help with diagnosis

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doctors-meeting

I’m all for social media and networks so it wasn’t a huge shock to discover that a lot of doctors, particularly junior ones, are consulting online resources in order to help them diagnose patients and to improve their medical knowledge.

Naturally that doesn’t mean they’re not qualified to do the job, though I really hope they’re choosing the right online media and resource web sites before dishing out advice and medication to patients. After all, we already know the Internet is a hypochondriac’s dream. [Read more…]

Originally posted on July 6, 2009 @ 1:00 pm

Google Fires Missile at Wikipedia With Knol

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Hoping to capitalize on the dominance and growth of social encyclopedias, Google has Wikipedia in its cross hairs with Knol (includes shades of Squidoo and Mahalo).

Users can create a page on any topic that includes text, images and links.

Moderated collaboration will allow page creators to accept or reject edits and changes to each Knol.

Now why would you want to create a page? Google is allowing page owners to makes some cash by earning revenue through AdSense clicks.

As someone who once wasted money on a Million Dollar Wiki page, the concept sounds familiar. In fact, you’re probably already targeting popular keywords, eh?

The visibility of content is controlled by the reviews and comments left by visitors (these dictate ranking). Good content will be rewarded. Multiple pages can be created for the same topic or item.

Even if Knol scrapes away a small percentage of Wikipedia’s audience, that will still be big traffic.

Originally posted on July 23, 2008 @ 4:21 pm