Wikipedia receives Google’s offer for assistance
Anyone who has tried finding information on the net would have landed on the incredible Wikipedia sooner than later. The open source free for all encyclopedia has massive user base and an excellent fan support. People like to contribute content to it as much as they like to use the content from it.
The sad part is that the non-profit site is usually short on the much-needed storage and hosting services. However, the latest news in might bring some relief to the project. Search Engine giant Google has offered its support to assist online encyclopedia Wikipedia, by providing much needed storage and hosting services.
The deal is still in very early stages. Wikipedia has made it public that Google has not asked for any favors in returns, which includes any ad placement on Wikipedia pages. Analysts have linked this move to Microsoft’s re-entry into the search engine market with MSN Encarta integrated into the search results.
Google with the power and content of Wikipedia might make a lethal combination to empower the extent; knowledge is available to the end user on the Internet. But then considering Wikipedia already is open source, Google would not have needed any tech support from the developers of this online encyclopedia!
Google in the recent days has taken steps to help other open source application developers as well. Mozilla Firefox’s default homepage is now listed on Google’s server, which lessens the traffic on Mozilla’s own servers. They also hired two major developers of the same browser and clarified that they would continue to work on Firefox primarily.
Is this the sign of Google’s generosity… looks like it!
Sushubh Mittal is the Technical Consultant for Search Engine Journal and Blogs at TechWhack and Software Journal.
