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RSS feedsGoogle is to sell access to book content online. The move is part of a range of plans to be launched by the giant search engine that will enable "Partner" publishers to make money from the titles that are included in Google Book Search. Both Amazon.com and Random House announced last year that they intended to sell book downloads online, but the development by Google could raise further questions about its long-term plans for book content.
The new initiative is to be launched first in the US and the UK. Details are not yet finalised but Google said the revenue of any online sales would be shared between Google and the publisher, with the publisher receiving the majority of the revenue. Publishers will be able to decide what price they set for online access to their titles, and choose which books they wish to include in the programme. Up to now, browsers wishing to see more of a book have been directed to an online bookseller or the website of the copyright holder.
A spokesman for Google said: "Our goal is to work closely with publishers to make the Partner Programme as useful to them as possible. In our discussions with publishers, many of them were excited about experimenting with new and innovative ways to earn more book revenue, and particularly in selling online access to their books. We're excited to continue our efforts to develop a suite of online tools that will give publishers more options to experiment with."
A consumer launch will follow, and Google intends for the service to be rolled out eventually across the world. Publishers already lined up to participate include Taylor & Francis, and Netherlands based Brill .
Taylor & Francis group sales director Christoph Chesher said: "The platform Google is proposing offers enormous potential to publishers, particularly to promote and sell backlist titles, but the real beneficiaries are readers because it puts books, many of which they may never have seen before in physical form, in front of them for the very first time. For publishers, the benefit is in the control we have over our titles: we determine which books to sell and promote, we set the prices and we robustly retain our copyrights. The model will continue to evolve but the consultative approach between Google and publishers sets an important precedent."
It is not yet certain whether Google's latest move will please or irk other publishers. Bloomsbury c.e.o Nigel Newton last week ( click here for full story ) called for a Google boycott. In a speech made on World Book Day, Newton decried the company's quest "to monetise for its own benefit the literature of the world". But he also called on publishers to sell access to book content online, precisely the tool that Google has now launched.
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