Bing adds Britannica Online Encyclopedia answers to search

Microsoft's Bing search engine has added a new feature to make it easier for people using the search engine the find details on things they search for. Bing has added Britannica Online Encyclopedia Answers to search results. The search results are part of the partnership with Encyclopedia Britannica and provide details and a thumbnail image of items people search for.

The search results also add links to other trusted sources such as Wikipedia, Freebase, and Qwiki. Undoubtedly, this is Microsoft's attempt to match Google in the search space. In May, Google announced a new context-sensitive information search called knowledge graph that put more details on the right-hand side of the search page for specific things users search for.

Microsoft took a different tact by integrating its Britannica results in line with its other search results. I can see this being useful, particularly if you're searching for details on a person or place. This is also the first the partnership for Encyclopaedia Britannica since it ended its print version in March.