Bizwiki UK aims to merge Wikipedia with the Open Directory Project to create the largest user-generated catalog of businesses and organizations in the United Kingdom. To submit a business, you first must register and be approved (to avoid spam and malicious editing), then write it and submit it.
All submissions must meet their editing policies and meet appropriate standards. The site is more focused on collecting and publishing business information than opinion (like Wikipedia), but they have added a separate place on the site for business reviews as well. While they are focused on the UK, they hope to launch versions of Bizwiki focused in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand over the next year. Plans for multi-lingual versions and user-contributed business directories for other nations are also being explored.
BizWiki.co.uk In Their Own Words
“Bizwiki is a free directory of businesses that anyone can contribute to and edit. As the UK focused part of this international network, Bizwiki.co.uk aims to become the largest, most comprehensive directory of British businesses on the Web.”
Why BizWiki.co.uk It Might Be A Killer
I think the idea of merging factual information about businesses with customer reviews is a clever idea, and may take hold as an augmented online yellow pages. The businesses are categorized by type for easier searching, and of course you can search by key words or names as well.
Some Questions About BizWiki.co.uk
How far along are they in cataloging all the businesses and organizations that exist in the UK? It seems an incredibly challenging task, made all the more challenging by relying on users. Then again, Wikipedia has been a phenomenal success, so people are willing to write up factual information for free. When are they planning to tackle the US, Brazil and NZ? Those also seem incredibly difficult tasks. And, do people desire to see national catalogs of businesses or do they prefer the local yellow pages style?
