The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian published sites, with up to 3.5 million unique visitors per month.

[4] The slump in sales of paper-based encyclopedias around the turn of the 21st century hit Kunnskapsforlaget hard, but a fourth edition of the paper encyclopedia was secured by a grant of ten million Norwegian kroner from the foundation Fritt Ord in 2003.

[7] On 12 March 2010, Kunnskapsforlaget announced that they would close the online encyclopedia because of lacklustre sales and failing revenue.

[8] In 2011, the foundations Fritt Ord and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB acquired the encyclopedia, hired Anne Marit Godal as the new chief editor and established a new organisation, assisted by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association.

The SNL accepts contributions from users, but all changes to the articles are verified by a topic expert before publication.