This has been in the back of my head for a while so here it is, as a 2008 prediction:

• In 08, the start page theme will become a hot advertising spot. Google just launched a theme directory and an API and it is a matter of time until a savvy brand develops a theme with a catchy, funny, provocative story line. Think Burger King or Virgin etc....

It makes a ton of sense to grow this even more. This page has an insane amount of info on the user so it can be targeted / personalized to death, has his/hers attention probably more than any other web page and allows for the development of a story line that unfolds during the whole day...All this makes for a very stong emotional connection between the brand and the user. I am going to look at this API now..

One of Google's VP of engineering just announced in a detailed note that they are basically taking on wikipedia, mahalo, about, squidoo and many others with one very simple and clever concept: the knol.

A knol is EGM (expert generated media - i made up the acronym;)).

It is a very simple idea: an expert writes a page on a topic (a la squidoo / about), the page is submitted to the community for peer reviews and comments (a la wikipedia). The wisdom of the searching crowd decides then which pages are best. (a la mahalo). And the kicker: google splits ad revenues on the page with the author.

Simply brilliant.

At a time where the wikipedia community is fizzling, where attention is increasingly hard to get, Google, with its mighty market share, offers experts instant traffic and recognition, and, substantial revenue. No more anonymous editing and writing for wikipedia. The knol has your name, your photo and more in big bold letters! Talk about incentives. I also wonder how the knol will fit in the portfolio of online presence tools we have today. Will quickly become another item on the lengthy "social media todo list" or can it actually be the start of vertical networks tied to profile and other lifestreams from the experts? Time will tell.

Hats off to Google on this one for entering this space.

Oh, and Jimmy Wales should have taken my advice of slapping some ads on wikipedia when i gave it to him 2 years ago: by now, he could have started sharing revenue with top contributors.

I'll keep an eye on the knols, for sure.