Encyclopedia Britannica to Aid Bing Search

The Encyclopedia Britannica is trying to remain relevant, so they going the way of Bing.

Microsoft’s search engine, just entered into a partnership with Encyclopedia Britannica to provide Britannica Online answers directly on the Bing results page as part of Bing’s answers feature.

The internet has displaced the need for books, to some degree, and Encyclopedia Britannica and its 32-volume printed edition felt that pressure. The company ceased its print edition in March and said it would focus on selling its established reference works to subscribers online, as well as mobile platforms such as smartphones and tablets.

Mobile will be the next hurdle where Encyclopedia Britannica will need to stay relevant. “We’re living in an increasingly non-PC world,” says Pidgeon. “Smartphones are going to leapfrog PCs. The best thing to do is a web-based strategy, which would work on a mobile web browser.”