Relationship between Google and Wikipedia
{{Short description|Relation between Search Engine Google and Wikipedia}}
File:ويكي عربية 2019 - مشاريع كًوكًل مع ويكيميديا.webm
The relationship between Google and Wikipedia was collaborative in Wikipedia's early days, when Google helped reduce the pagerank of widespread, uneditable Wikipedia clones that were ostensibly ad farms.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} In 2007, Google introduced Knol, a direct competitor for community-driven encyclopedia creation, which was subsequently shut down in 2012. Google later supported Wikimedia with numerous grants, and came to rely on Wikipedia for addressing the problem of misinformation on YouTube, providing verifiable and well-sourced information to those seeking it. Google and Wikimedia Enterprise started a partnership in 2021.{{Cite magazine|title=Wikipedia Is Finally Asking Big Tech to Pay Up|language=en-US|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/story/wikipedia-finally-asking-big-tech-to-pay-up|access-date=2021-06-20|issn=1059-1028}}
History
In 2007, Google introduced Knol, an encyclopedia with user-generated content. The New York Times compared Wikipedia to Knol at the time,{{cite web |last1=Helft |first1=Miguel |date=15 December 2007 |title=Wikipedia Competitor Being Tested by Google |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/technology/15web.html |website=The New York Times |language=en}} and it was largely seen as a direct competitor.{{cite web |last1=Sullivan |first1=Danny |title=Google's Knol Launches: Like Wikipedia, With Moderation - Search Engine Land |url=https://searchengineland.com/googles-knol-launches-like-wikipedia-with-moderation-14434 |website=Search Engine Land |date=23 July 2008}} Knol was largely seen as a failure, and the project was closed and subsequently deleted in 2012.{{Cite web |title=Google Announces Plans To Shutter Knol, Friend Connect, Wave, And More |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/11/22/google-announces-plans-to-shutter-knol-friend-connect-and-more/ |access-date=2022-05-05 |website=TechCrunch |date=22 November 2011 |language=en-US }}
In 2008, various news sources reported that most of Wikipedia's traffic came from referrals from Google search.{{cite web |last1=Teglet |first1=Traian |title=Wikipedia Traffic, Mostly from Google |url=https://news.softpedia.com/news/Wikipedia-Traffic-Mostly-from-Google-85703.shtml |website=softpedia |language=en |date=15 May 2008}}
In February 2010, Google gave {{US$|2000000}} as its first grant to the Wikimedia Foundation.{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Bobbie |title=Wikipedia wins the Google lottery - but why? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2010/feb/18/wikipedia-google |website=the Guardian |language=en |date=18 February 2010}}{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Jay |title=Wikimedia Foundation announces $2 million grant from Google |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_$2_million_grant_from_Google |website=wikimediafoundation.org |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529235914/https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_$2_million_grant_from_Google |archive-date=29 May 2018 |access-date=27 January 2019 |url-status=bot: unknown }} Google founder Sergey Brin commented that "Wikipedia is one of the greatest triumphs of the internet".
In May 2012, Google launched a project known as the Google Knowledge Graph, which produced instant answer panels alongside traditional search engine results. Later, results from querying the knowledge graph complemented string-based search in producing the ranked list of search results as well. A large amount of the information presented in the knowledge panel infoboxes is retrieved from Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook.{{cite web|last=Singhal|first=Amit|date=May 16, 2012|title=Introducing the Knowledge Graph: Things, Not Strings|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not.html|access-date=January 23, 2022|work=Google Official Blog}}
In January 2019, Google donated $3 million to the Wikimedia Foundation.{{cite web |last1=Dickey |first1=Megan Rose |title=Google.org donates $2 million to Wikipedia's parent org |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/22/google-org-donates-2-million-to-wikipedias-parent-org/ |website=TechCrunch |date=22 January 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Litman-Navarro |first1=Kevin |title=Google will conquer the world one charitable donation at a time |url=https://theoutline.com/post/6999/google-will-conquer-the-world-one-charitable-donation-at-a-time |website=The Outline |language=en |date=23 January 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Gomes |first1=Ben |last2=Fuller |first2=Jacquelline |title=Expanding knowledge access with the Wikimedia Foundation |url=https://blog.google/products/search/expanding-knowledge-access-wikimedia-foundation/ |website=Google |language=en |date=22 January 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Gruwell |first1=Lisa |title=Google and Wikimedia Foundation partner to increase knowledge equity online |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/2019/01/22/google-and-wikimedia-foundation-partner-to-increase-knowledge-equity-online/ |website=Wikimedia Foundation |date=22 January 2019}}
In June 2022, Google and the Internet Archive were announced as Wikimedia Enterprise's first customers, though only Google will be paying for the service.{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=June 22, 2022 |title=Google is paying the Wikimedia Foundation for better access to information |url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/22/23178245/google-paying-wikimedia-foundation-information |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623043046/https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/22/23178245/google-paying-wikimedia-foundation-information |archive-date=June 23, 2022 |access-date=June 23, 2022 |website=The Verge}}
Combatting misinformation
In March 2018, YouTube announced that they would be using information from Wikipedia to address the problem of misinformation on the website.{{cite web |last1=Etherington |first1=Darrell |date=14 March 2018 |title=Wikipedia wasn't aware of YouTube's conspiracy video plan |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/14/wikipedia-wasnt-aware-of-youtubes-conspiracy-video-plan/ |website=TechCrunch}} On videos about certain topics such as the September 11 attacks, the Apollo program, the 2020 United States presidential election, and the COVID-19 pandemic, information panels are included below the video.{{Cite web |title=Election information panels - YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/10047535?hl=en&ref_topic=9257092 |access-date=2022-05-05 |website=support.google.com}}{{Cite web |title=Information panel giving topical context - YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9004474?hl=en |access-date=2022-05-05 |website=support.google.com}} These panels are intended to combat misinformation. They contain information sourced directly from Wikipedia, along with other websites such as Encyclopædia Britannica, The World Factbook, the Associated Press, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
References
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Links
- :meta:Overview of Wikimedia Foundation and Google Partnership, a Wikimedia Foundation statement
{{Google LLC}}
{{Wikipedia}}
{{Wikimedia Foundation}}