Google is investing in the Wikimedia Foundation for better access to information

Google to pay Wikimedia Foundation for providing the most accurate and up-to-date information in their search engine. Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit group behind Wikipedia, says that Google is one of the first companies to buy its commercial service Enterpries. 

Launched last year Wikimedia Enterpries allows customers to reuse huge chunks of information from services Wikimedia, access its content more effectively. Instead of relying on free data dumps and public APIs to extract information from Wikipedia's web pages, Wikimedia Enterprise allows customers to use APIs as best suited to process and distribute information on a much larger scale. The service also allows customers to prevent outdated or inaccurate information from appearing on the Internet outside of Wikipedia. 

Although you may not notice it, Google uses services Wikimedia in several ways. This is most evident in its "knowledge bar", which appears on the side of the search results page when you search for people, places or things in a large Google database. Wikipedia is one of the sources that Google often used to fill in the information on these panels, Google also cites Wikipedia in the dashboards it adds to some videos YouTubeto combat misinformation and conspiracy theories. 

It is not entirely clear how the new partnership with Google will change the situation for users. Tim Palmer, managing director of Google search partnerships, vaguely commented that Google hopes to "deepen" its partnership with the Foundation Wikimedia using the service Enterprise. Lane Becker, senior director Wikimedia Enterprise of earned income said that the service is still at an "early stage", and declined to comment on specific ways to use Google. 

Though Wikimedia Foundationapparently receives some money from Enterprise management, and the organization expects its services to make up only a "small portion" of its revenue.