Knol has been last updated in December 2009 and it's obvious that the service has been abandoned. Somebody needs to close Knol before it's too late.
If you want to find a list of abandoned Google products, check the copyright notice at the bottom of their homepage and see if it's been updated. Friend Connect, Google Desktop and Knol still show an old message: "©2009 Google".
Update (one day later): Knol is up and running again, but for how long?
Somebody needs to close Knol before it's too late for what?
ReplyDeleteAnd yet Google Wave and Google Notebook were killed. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteSo were did all the Google people go who created Knol? Same applies for many other Google products who dont seem to receive updates. My guess, the are working over time on something new that rule them all.
ReplyDelete*that rules them all.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's still listed on their Tools & Services page:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/intl/en/options/
Does anyone even monitor their active listings for signs of life?
It's very strange that most of the content seems to have been removed. Where did it go? Maybe it will be available in a new service?
They should try and get the authors to allow them to be licensed for Wikipedia so that the data doesn't get forgotten about. There is some really good Knol articles that don't deserve to be lost.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to really detest Google. I still use Google Notebook everyday for my homework but since they dropped it they don't update the firefox plugin. I'm now always scared to try one of their services.
ReplyDeleteBob - Do *any* companies guarantee that they'll continue a particular product forever? As far as companies go, I'd say Google can be considered one of the more stable ones...
ReplyDeleteAndrew B: See Bell/AT&T and the dial tone. Until "cloud" software companies get to that level of service, users will rightly be nervous about depending on this kind of software. (Yes, I know the dial tone is kind of going away, but there's a clear upgrade path and the tone's still there today.) As far as stability, Google is building a questionable record. This kind of abandonment of an online service is what I would expect from a couple of college kids who suddenly discovered the opposite sex, not from a multi-billion-dollar company.
ReplyDeleteWasn't Knol like Squidoo? I never used it.
ReplyDeleteWhat are u ppl tlking abt, google is too busy with more important things than get rid of some old site. Maybe they plan to restore it? Maybe to delete, but whenever they want. They first need to finally finish thier current os apps, such as docs, youtube, etc, to finally organize and see wt they r gonna do with those junkies. Anyway it seems this blog is been written by a spoiled 16 year old who doesnt know a thing abt google, or is in his period cuz recent post have been nothing but weining .
ReplyDeleteWell this is nice one
ReplyDeletehttp://picspox.blogspot.com/
I think every trouble in the functioning of Knol is being interpreted in a negative way. According to my guess, there is a problem in the search functioning which made all lists blank. This sort of problems do occur in various websites. As somebody commented Google is the most reliable product provider. Knol is doing well despite lot of negative talk both in outside media as well as inside knol.
ReplyDeleteAs a wikibased open academic site that individuals can manage, Knol is a unique facility.
So is this its' "Death Knol" ... sorry, someone had to say it.
ReplyDeleteI really did find any use of knol. What did Google make this. any reason ?
ReplyDeleteSystem Administrator Resume
However, Last Update of GDS (Desktop Search) has internal record "Copyright (c) 2003-10 Google. All Rights Reserved.". I don't remember, I think it has been released in second quarter. This may give a hope.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Sets (c)2007.
ReplyDeleteAny raises on 2007?
All the feature boxes are empty for me - 'this week' or 'all time'. Looks abandoned and broken. Pity to see, you wouldn't have thought it would take much to keep that ticking over.
ReplyDeleteThen how to get a verified E-Mail address on Google Profile if it's closed?
ReplyDelete@Mrrix32:
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's not a general rule, but it could be a hint that the project is no longer maintained. For example, Google Sets database is no longer updated.
@Hedaru:
That feature has been removed.
And Google Notebook - (C) 2008 :)
ReplyDeleteYes, why did they rush to kill the excellent Google Notebook instead of culling non-starters like Knol that are dying in dark corners?
ReplyDeleteKnol may not be dead but it appears that Google is no longer including knols in it's search results. I've gone from 30 visits a day to my knol down to 1 or 2. Lack of traffic is either related to the bug or Google has indeed decided to abandon this product.
ReplyDeleteSo Google is back with the Chromebook...so it will be interesting to see what the next 2 years bring.
ReplyDelete