The Internet’s free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is getting some competition. Google is working on it’s very own knowledge site by invite only. In a twist of digg and Wikipedia, Knol will allow any user to write about anything they desire and users will rate the article. Unlike Wikipedia’s allowing of other writers to make corrections to an existing post, Knol will only allow the original author to make edits. Google’s vice president of engineering, Udi Manber, added to a recent blog entry that he feels knowing who the author is adds more significant power to the article than not knowing, stating, “We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content.”

As everything Google, the author will have the ability to embed ads into each post obtaining a “substantial” amount of the returns according to Google. Further, the ranking value will also have effect of where the article will appear on regular searches from its main page.

Google will be providing the web space, hosting, bandwidth, and editing tools all for free to the author. According to Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land, Google will need such a service to stay competitive. We’ll see if this is truly competitive or just another blur in an already growing arsenal of Internet applications for the Mountain View, California giant.

[Via PC World]