Google nearly ready to challenge Apple, Amazon with e-bookstore

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Google Editions, the search giant's entry into the e-book market, is in the "final stages," and is set to debut by the end of the year, posing a threat to Apple's new iBookstore, according to a new report.



Google Editions was first announced in May with a slated release for late June or July. After several delays, the e-bookstore should arrive soon, The Wall Street Journal reports.



Google product management director Scott Dougall told the Journal that Google Editions is set to launch in the U.S. by the "end of the month and internationally in the first quarter of next year."



Independent booksellers have received contracts in recent weeks, and several publishers have been exchanging files with Google, indicating the store is close to launch, the report noted.



Google hopes to shakes things up with a more open model than its competitors, namely Apple and Amazon. With Google Editions, users' purchases will be tied to their Google accounts and will be accessible on "most devices with a Web browser." By comparison, Apple's iBooks store is currently only available on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.



Beyond just the tablet and e-reader market, Google hopes to reach "all Internet users" through a revenue sharing program with other websites and booksellers.



"Google is going to turn every Internet space that talks about a book into a place where you can buy that book," Dominique Raccah, publisher and owner of Sourcebooks Inc, told the Journal. "The Google model is going to drive a lot of sales. We think they could get 20% of the e-book market very fast."



For its part, Apple announced in June that it had achieved a 22 percent share of the e-book market by selling more than 5 million digital books in just over two months.



According to the Journal's report, Google has already signed deals with "many major book publishers" and is expected to have hundreds of thousands of titles available for purchase, and "millions more for free" shortly after launch.



The 6-month delay may have cost Google though, as Apple and Amazon have had extra time to solidify their places in the market. A recent survey by Changewave research showed that Apple's iPad is gaining steadily on Amazon's Kindle in the e-reader market. Apple doubled its market share from 16 percent in August to 32 percent in November, while Amazon's share dropped from 62 percent to 47 percent over the same period.



Forrester Research predicts that more than 15 million e-readers and tablets will be sold in 2010, compared to an estimated 2.8 million e-readers in 2009. If the 15 million number is to believed, Apple will take the lion's share of the market, as it had sold over 7 million iPads by the end of September.



However, HarperCollins Publishers CEO Brian Murray thinks Google's lack of an e-reader could give it a "competitive advantage." As more mobile reading devices hit the market, Google Editions could benefit because it will be the "least dependent on specific devices."



On the other hand, Michael Edwards, chief executive of Borders Group Inc.'s bookselling unit, is skeptical about Google's place in the e-book market. "I don't see the advantage in pushing their content, especially since it may be small in terms of total revenue," he said.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 73
    So, all those illegally scanned books are finally gonna pay off for Google...
  • Reply 2 of 73
    mgl323mgl323 Posts: 247member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post




    According to the Journal's report, Google has already signed deals with "many major book publishers" and is expected to have hundreds of thousands of titles available for purchase, and "millions more for free" shortly after launch.





    "millions more for free"



    Free books with ads anyone?
  • Reply 3 of 73
    Serious reading of digital books is for eReaders and Tablets. More comfortable and almost as natural as reading a hard copy book than reading on a browser of a desktop or laptop screen.
  • Reply 4 of 73
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    Fail. Google won't be getting any more info from me than it already does. No way am I logging in for this.
  • Reply 5 of 73
    kreshkresh Posts: 379member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mgl323 View Post


    "millions more for free"



    Free books with ads anyone?



    I think they will all have ads since none of the ebooks, free or purchased, will be stored locally.



    Gotta love the cloud, just an excuse for more and more companies to use the bandwidth I pay for to shove more ads in my face.
  • Reply 6 of 73
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post


    Serious reading of digital books is for eReaders and Tablets. More comfortable and almost as natural as reading a hard copy book than reading on a browser of a desktop or laptop screen.



    You can read it on iPhone or iPad using Safari but I see where you're coming from.



    EDIT: I think Google got tbeir strategy right. Convenience will win. Average user will not care. Apple & Amazon should watch out.
  • Reply 7 of 73
    Google is trying to get into everything in this world. I totally hate to use anything that is Google. They are trying to push Web base system, where everything is base on the Browser. I think that is very dumb.

    I much prefer the iPad experience of reading on a tablet & syncing all my book in one place with a backup copy in iTunes.
  • Reply 8 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    You can read it on iPhone or iPad using Safari but I see where you're coming from.



    EDIT: I think Google got tbeir strategy right. Convenience will win. Average user will not care. Apple & Amazon should watch out.



    In 6 months let's revisit this fantasy.
  • Reply 9 of 73
    wonderwonder Posts: 229member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    You can read it on iPhone or iPad using Safari but I see where you're coming from.



    EDIT: I think Google got tbeir strategy right. Convenience will win. Average user will not care. Apple & Amazon should watch out.



    So no internet connection no book?



    How is that going to work when I go on holiday with my WiFi iPad and I have no internet connection (or a very expensive one). What is the point of a book reader that needs to be connected to the internet, there is no customer benefit, just a benefit to Google to feed you ads. Fail!



    Who wants to use up 3G data allowances reading books on their phone?
  • Reply 10 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    So, all those illegally scanned books are finally gonna pay off for Google...



    What's funny is I edit those books and they don't pay me squat!! I want a pay raise google if you succeed (I work in the dept that scans and edits these books lol) plus not to mention it will prob be available soon as I've been lumped into a expedited group and we've been told that the books are "high priority" bs pay me more before I have to work harder for my 10$ an hour



    You should see the scanning crew with the OCR equipment! Looks like a sweat shop almost
  • Reply 11 of 73
    tjwtjw Posts: 216member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mgl323 View Post


    "millions more for free"



    Free books with ads anyone?



    Free with ads will ALWAYS win. Look at spotify, they are suffering because they have a stupidly huge amount of users on the free with ads version that won't pay a subscription to get rid of the ads, even though you get more features such as offline mode and mobile syncing.



    Would you pay for a search engine so that you didn't have to face the ads?



    Google's ads are the least intrusive ads on your content in the history of advertising. The ads are even targeted at what you might like.



    Free with ads is the most successful business model if you want everyone to use or at least try your product.
  • Reply 12 of 73
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    E-Books is a bag of hurt
  • Reply 13 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    E-Books is a bag of hurt



    Well they don't hurt as much as if I'd have to carry all my eBooks I keep on my iPad as physical copies around. Just a thought.
  • Reply 14 of 73
    tjwtjw Posts: 216member
    Spot the obvious loser here:



    Amazon kindle store, available on all platforms.



    Apple iBooks store, available on iOS devices.



    Google Editions, available on anything with a web browser.



    The sad thing is apple are unlikely to expand to other platforms.
  • Reply 15 of 73
    wonderwonder Posts: 229member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjw View Post


    Spot the obvious loser here:



    Amazon kindle store, available on all platforms.



    Apple iBooks store, available on iOS devices.



    Google Editions, available on anything with a web browser.



    The sad thing is apple are unlikely to expand to other platforms.



    Available on how many million iOS devices?
  • Reply 16 of 73
    jetlawjetlaw Posts: 156member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tjw

    Spot the obvious loser here:



    Amazon kindle store, available on all platforms.



    Apple iBooks store, available on iOS devices.



    Google Editions, available on anything with a web browser.



    The problem with iBooks is not the number of devices it runs on, it is the pathetic selection of books in the store.
  • Reply 17 of 73
    tjwtjw Posts: 216member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wonder View Post


    Available on how many million iOS devices?



    Many, many millions less than all the devices on every platform put together and all devices with a web browser.
  • Reply 18 of 73
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rtrader88 View Post


    Google is trying to get into everything in this world. I totally hate to use anything that is Google. They are trying to push Web base system, where everything is base on the Browser. I think that is very dumb.

    I much prefer the iPad experience of reading on a tablet & syncing all my book in one place with a backup copy in iTunes.



    Yeah, what a dumb idea that users can have access to what they need from anywhere in the world. Who needs it? /sarcasm

    And you can still have an iPad experience after Google will publish an App for its book store.... ;p
  • Reply 19 of 73
    tjwtjw Posts: 216member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rtrader88 View Post


    Google is trying to get into everything in this world. I totally hate to use anything that is Google. They are trying to push Web base system, where everything is base on the Browser. I think that is very dumb.

    I much prefer the iPad experience of reading on a tablet & syncing all my book in one place with a backup copy in iTunes.



    OK dinosaur
  • Reply 20 of 73
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rabbit_Coach View Post


    Well they don't hurt as much as if I'd have to carry all my eBooks I keep on my iPad as physical copies around. Just a thought.







    Don't take me too seriously. I like my iPad 32GB WiFi 3G. But the only thing I read is the Zinio samples and I've only bought one or two simple iPad/iPhone "tips" books from the iBookStore. I don't watch much movies nowadays, PC gaming has enough good, cinematic storylines going for it (Starcraft 2, Crysis Warhead, Mass Effect 2 are the notable recent completions).



    BTW I don't know what the hold up is but these publishers are idiots if they continue to ignore the iBookStore for whatever reason (they'll probably blame Apple as usual).



    The education market is primed to explode with books on iPad. Whether it will come to full fruition, we shall see... Many, many more millions of iPads to be made and sold in 2011. Publishers will either be on-board with a better selection, or maybe they'll be off to suckle at the teat of Google only to realise they're the ones being bled dry hmm?



    BTW these idiotic publishers still have some very, very ridiculous geographic restrictions on iBookStore. I've said it before, PEOPLE ARE ALREADY READING LESS AND NOT BUYING YOUR PHYSICAL BOOK... AND YOU DON'T WANT TO SELL IT MORE WIDELY AROUND THE WORLD?



    My sister-in-law was working with Penguin etc. in the UK and in mid-2008 they were trying to do a big e-Book push with Sony's e-Readers and what not. Talk about not having a clue. To be fair, the iPad was nowhere to be seen at the time, it only existed as sparkles of interweb thistles. This kind of things with Penguin UK are some of the reason the country's screwed... Among many other things.
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