Service called Google Editions
Service will be browser based
Price per book set by publishers
Starting with 400,000 to 600,000 titles
Launch will be in first half of 2010
Readers will be able to buy e-books either from Google directly or from other online stores such as Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com. Google will host the e-books and make them searchable.
We’re not focused on a dedicated e-reader [like the KIndle, Sony Reader or the soon to be announced device from Barnes & Noble} or device of any kind," Tom Turvey, Google's director of strategic partnerships, told journalists at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Google Editions will allow Google to make money for the first time out of one of its book ventures -- which also include a controversial project to scan and index tens of millions of books through partnerships with libraries.
Turvey said Google would give publishers 63 percent of revenues and keep 37 percent for itself where it sold e-books directly to consumers. In cases where e-books were bought through other online retailers, publishers would get 45 percent and most of the remaining 55 percent would go to the retailer, with a small share for Google, he said.
Google is poised to launch its "buy anywhere, read anywhere" digital books programme Google Editions simultaneously in the US, UK and Europe...
...once bought, the e-book would exist in a "cloud library", which could be accessed from potentially any device, including laptops, "smart phones" or e-readers. "As long as you can get onto the library, you can access it,"
Once a book has been accessed on a given device, a cached version will exist, making it possible for readers to access the book offline.
Google Editions has three business models: to allow the consumer to buy the e-book via Google Books; to buy it from a partner retailer; or from a publisher's own website...
[Amanda] Edmonds, [Google's director of strategic partnerships], said it was “definitely” Google’s intention to partner with device manufacturers, but declined to give names. She added she “doubted” Kindle would be on board.
Google is not new to content sales. In January, 2006 Google launched a video store on the Google Video site with fee-based content from a number of producers. The video store remained online until August, 2007. This LA Times story has more including how Google wanted to focus its energies on YouTube which they acquired in October, 2006.
Hat Tip: Library Stuff
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