Google drops $2 million on Wikimedia Foundation

“Google has donated $2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation!”

That was the big, albeit informal, announcement posted today on the Twitter account of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

The technology blogs are still buzzing about the search engine empire’s contribution to the non-profit charitable organization, famous for it’s massive online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

The grant will reportedly be used to make the popular website more accessible and easier to use for millions around the world.

In a statement, Google co-founder Sergey Brin called Wikipedia “one of the great triumphs of the Internet.”

Wales, who was interviewed by the Mississippi Business Journal last week , said later in an announcement that he was “very pleased and grateful.”

“This is a wonderful gift, and we celebrate it as recognition of the long-term alignment and friendship between Google and Wikimedia,” Wales said. “Both organizations are committed to bringing high quality information to hundreds of millions of individuals every day, and to making the Internet better for everyone.”

The foundation relies on individual contributions to operate its eleven additional Web sites, sites like Wiktionary and Wikiquotes. Wales told the MBJ that a recent fundraiser netted more than $8 million.