Google Editions: Online E-Bookstore Coming in 2010

Oct 15, 2009 at 3:00pm ET by Matt McGee

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, Google revealed its plans to launch Google Editions, an online store to sell e-books. The company says the store will launch in the first half of 2010 with about half a million e-books.

The e-books will come from publishers with whom Google already works, and unlike Amazon’s Kindle e-reader/store, the Google-hosted e-books will be readable on any device with a web browser. That places Google’s plans in line with Sony’s Reader, which also supports open standards-based e-books. From the Reuters story:

Forrester media analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said Google would not necessarily steal market share from Amazon, although it would strengthen the position of others who support open standards usable across a range of devices, such as Sony’s.

“Certainly it presents collective competition to Amazon, but for many consumers the word ‘e-reader’ is synonymous with the Kindle,” she said.

In addition to Google Editions, Google-hosted e-books will also be available for sale on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, Reuters reports. Google will share e-book revenue with publishers and, if the e-book is bought somewhere other than Google’s store, with the retailer that sells it. When Google sells the e-book directly, publishers will get 63% of revenue and Google will keep the rest. When a third-party retailer sells the e-book, the publisher will get 45%, and the retailer will get “most of the remaining 55%,” Google said.

Matt McGee is the Search Engine Land Assignment Editor, and offers search marketing consulting and training to businesses of all sizes. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and HyperlocalBlogger.com.

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