Dare Obasanjo notes that Google is catching up to Wikipedia awfully quickly with their Knol launch:

Clearly Nick Carr wasn't the only one that realized that Google was slowly turning into a Wikipedia redirector. Google wants to be the #1 source for information or at least be serving ads on the #1 sites on the Internet in specific area. Wikipedia was slowly eroding the company's effectivenes at achieving both goals. So it is unsurprising that Google has launched Knol and is trying to entice authors away from Wikipedia by offering them a chance to get paid.

Isn't this awfully close to mixing editorial and advertising? I realize that it's not the same thing as an advertiser paying for an op/ed opinion, but it sure looks like Knol is getting some undue favoritism. I wish I had paid more attention when Mahalo launched, because it would be interesting to compare the authority rise of Mahalo back then with Knol right now.