Mathew Ingram notes that Google is getting into the same space that Wikipedia and Mahalo are living in (although, from the description, it sounds like Mahalo has more differentiation). I think the Google branding and commercial revenue model are what could really power this:

I think this could be huge. A more authoritative version of Wikipedia, compiled by experts and powered by Google? Not only that, but as Paul Kedrosky points out, the pages come with Google ads, and authors get a revenue share -- he says (and I agree) that it could hurt not just Wikipedia but Mahalo and plenty of others, especially if those pages start to rank highly in Google searches. Like I said -- huge.

One caveat about the "more authoritative" bit though. There are plenty of controversial topics that I can see Google having trouble staying above the fray on. Just pick any of a number of hot button political issues. Or heck, in the business/technical realm, pick DRM. I'll be very curious to see how Google decides to deal with that.

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