Google is looking to launch an eBook program by the end of this year allowing publishers to sell digital versions of their newest books directly to consumers through Google. This step will bring the Internet search giant into competition with Amazon, who is trying to capture the eBook department for its newly launched Kindle.
Google is already offering 1.5 million e-texts to the Sony e-Reader (biggest competitor to Amazon’s Kindle) through their Book Search Mobile, as well as mobile phones.
Building a Digital Book Ecosystem
As reported by NYTimes, Google is now aiming to build a “digital book ecosystem” to allow partner publishers to sell access to their titles, even if buyers don’t have dedicated book readers such as Amazon’s Kindle or Sony Corp.’s Reader. This means that with Google’s new program, you will be able to read eBooks on any device – be it a PC, mobile phone or a dedicated eBook reader. You could temporarily cache them in your Internet browsers and also read them offline.
Google will start charging users to view some full text books that they’ve indexed (this is separate from the Google Book Search Library Project). Google would allow publishers to set a list price for books, although the company will reserve the right to discount titles at its own expense.