In an era where AI threatens to democratize information, Infobase is a defiant monument to curated authority. With 80 years of history, it doesn't just compete with Wikipedia—it dominates the library stacks with a business model that generates $45M in revenue by selling trust itself.

"50% direct traffic is the ultimate vanity metric—it proves their brand is so embedded in education that users bypass search entirely."

The tech stack tells a story of pragmatic evolution. jQuery, Bootstrap, and Swiper suggest a mature frontend that hasn't been rewritten for the sake of fashion. They prioritize stability over bleeding-edge frameworks—a smart choice when your customers are school districts with decade-long procurement cycles. The use of Lazy Loading and Priority Hints shows they're optimizing for performance, but likely within the constraints of legacy architecture.

• 80-year brand equity is their primary competitive advantage
• 50% direct traffic indicates lock-in, not discovery
• Revenue per employee ($181k) suggests high-margin, low-growth operations
• Top keywords are navigational, not informational—users come to consume, not explore