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CBSNews and Answers Corporation announced the web launch of AnswerTips, a search tool aimed at enhancing content on the CBSNews.com website. CBS will also provide headlines and breaking news stories for Answers.com.

The joint venture between CBS and Answers Corporation will mark the first time AnswerTips will be available on the web. The search tool was previously only available through Answers.com's downloadable software, 1-Click Answers.

The following is an except from the press release:

This interactive tool is accessed on CBSNews.com by simply pressing and holding the ALT key while clicking on any word or phrase of interest. A co-branded AnswerTips information window will open instantly, providing definitions, biographies, historical background, maps and countless other relevant information on nearly four million topics. A click on the "More" button in the AnswerTips window delivers even more in-depth content about the topic from Answers.com.
Could this partnership between CBS and Answers Corporation be indicative of the growing interdependency between search and mass media?

In Europe, the web has already surpassed newspapers as the main source of information people look to for news. As that trend continues upward in the United States, as well was the rest of the globe, it becomes increasingly important for news agencies to provide both informative and interactive experiences for news seekers.

The days of sitting around the television as a family and watching the nightly news are over. People not only want to be informed, they want to be involved in the information gathering process.

Jeff Cutler, Chief Revenue Officer of Answers Corporation, seems to have a grasp of this concept.

Cutler comments in the press statement, "We are very pleased to Answers-enable' CBSNews.com, offering visitors at CBSNews.com the ability to learn even more by expanding on the news they read, literally as they read it."

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Joe is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.