[LINK] Google eBooks Launches Today

[Jan Whitaker]

Fwd: Publishers Lunch
>Google eBooks Launches Today
>Google's long-awaited, long-promised ebook service begins rolling 
>out today in the United States, unveiled in a blog post by product 
>manager Abe Murray, leaving behind its pre-release moniker of Google 
>Editions and now known simply as Google eBooks--one sign of how the 
>world has changed since the web giant first started discussing 
>selling "perpetual online access" to books in 2006. As previously 
>indicated by the company, they expect to launch in other territories 
>in early 2011. The new ebookstore is located at 
><http://click.publisherslunchdaily.com/cp/redirect.php?u=NTAwNnwzNDQ4OXxqd2hpdEBqYW53aGl0YWtlci5jb218NTA2NjA2fDc2MDIyMjM2fDcyNTgwNA==&id=7033493>books.google.com/ebooks, 
>but it is launching "throughout the day," so we are advised that not 
>all visitors will necessarily see the new store right away. 
>Similarly, the apps, web reader and reseller ebookstores--all 
>described further below--will start to appear today, though the 
>precise timing is unclear.
>
>Google declares they have "the largest ebooks collection in the 
>world with more than 3 million titles," including "hundreds of 
>thousands of books for sale from publishers" as well as "millions" 
>of public domain titles, with the latter provided for free. People 
>familiar with the catalog estimate the copyrighted works at between 
>300,000 and 400,000 titles, though Google is not providing a specific number.
>
>While the reviews will come later, in its scope, scale and ambition 
>the program clearly puts Google in contention as a major ebooks 
>player here in the US and shortly in major markets around the world. 
>Google executive Tom Turvey says they are "hoping to capture the 
>full breadth of the book business" with a catalog that incorporates 
>trade books as well as STM, scholarly and professional works. The 
>starting collection also reflects "international diversity," with 
>"multiple languages represented." They are offering both reflowable 
>EPUB files, as well image-based files (when provided by publishers) 
>with a toggle that will show such books--including color titles--"as 
>they exist in print." Turvey underscores, as publishing people will 
>appreciate, that "it's actually meaningful to see how the book was 
>intended to be laid out."
>
>Google eBooks display through a web browser and "Google Web Reader," 
>taking advantage of HTML 5 for offline readability as well as online 
>use. They have free Google Books apps ready to go for both Apple's 
>iOS (including an app optimized for the iPad) and Google's own 
>Android platform. While the company's focus is on the world of 
>"devices with a modern browser" rather than dedicated ereaders, the 
>new site says "Google eBooks is compatible with any dedicated ebook 
>reader that supports the Adobe eBook platform, including the Barnes 
>& Noble Nook and Reader from Sony." The company told us their files 
>should also be displayable "on the 85+ devices that support Adobe 
>eBook DRM." The site does include posted "instructions on 
>transferring Google Books onto your ereader," with device-specific 
>notes for Nook and Sony Reader. (Note, however, that the Google 
>Books Android app itself will not work on the new Nook Color device, 
>even though it uses a version of Android as its operating system. 
>Basically their Android app works on any device that draws on the 
>Android app marketplace. But the files themselves should be 
>transferrable to a Nook Color, and the service should also be 
>accessible via the speedy browser on Nook Color.)
>
>At one stage in the program's evolution Google executives had talked 
>about wanting to serve as the trusted manager of everyone's ebook 
>library cloud, no matter where purchases made. It's unclear how 
>successful they've been in that implementation for now, as Google's 
>positioning has focused back on "the hundreds of millions of devices 
>in the world that are not dedicated readers," as Turvey puts it. 
>"That's the market for us," he says, "and that's where we think the 
>bigger opportunity for publishers is."
>
>For customers, it will not matter where they buy their Google 
>eBooks--or whether they buy them from multiple retail partners at 
>different times. All of their Google eBooks will be fully accessible 
>on the same electronic "bookshelf."
>
>At launch, Google is putting its partnerships with independent 
>booksellers front and center, though other third-party sellers will 
>be added later. Google eBooks will be available from Powells.com, 
>Alibris, and participating members of the American Booksellers 
>Association who use the organization's ecommerce platform. Powell's 
>and Alibris should be live today, but at the time of our briefing, 
>it was not certain whether the participating indies would launch 
>their service today "or shortly thereafter." The ABA expects that 
>eventually all the two-hundred plus member stores who use their 
>platform will add Google eBooks to their offerings, but it was not 
>clear how many stores are doing so at the outset.
>
>Each participating retailer has full control over their pricing of 
>non-agency books, and can discount (or not) as they wish. While 
>Google "is in discussion with every tier one retailer in the world" 
>as a potential sales partner and "we want there to be a wide variety 
>of retailers selling these books," Turvey said, for now "we are 
>really trying to be selective about the retailers we are launching 
>with," focusing on "full-on legitimate booksellers."
>
>Google will also add an affiliate program "shortly" where 
>anyone--including, say, authors--can sell individual Google eBooks 
>from their web sites. Alibris will sell directly from their own 
>retail site as well as providing their thousands of independent 
>sellers affiliate marketing fees for ebook sales through their own 
>Alibris storefronts.
>
>Alibris CEO Brian Elliott says they looked at various ebook 
>offerings, and chose Google because "we wanted an ebook solution 
>that was broad, device-agnostic, and brought along apps. Google 
>eBooks fit the bill." He also cited "the breadth of what they are 
>going after" in terms of titles as another advantage, and sees the 
>service as "something that helps loyal customers stay loyal 
>customers." He also noted, "I think Google is in this for the long 
>term and will invest in this and made it bigger and broader." But 
>Alibris will not be offering the millions of free titles; they are 
>only incorporating the paid ebooks.
>
>The issue of how Google will deal with customer service has been 
>raised in some of the pre-launch speculation, and Turvey says they 
>are providing "a complete customer service experience that includes 
>chat, e-mail and phone" resources. "That's an investment we've made 
>to become a retailer," he said. With a US-only launch, some of those 
>customers may wonder how Google will deal with territorial issues. 
>At the outset, the store itself is restricted to US-based IP 
>addresses only, selling only to those with a US-issued credit card. 
>(Once they launch in other countries, they "will have a strategy for 
>that" which may combine allowing local address for existing 
>customers.) Practically, that means that US customers traveling 
>abroad will not be able to access the Google eBookstore--but any 
>titles already purchased will be fully accessible.
>
>Finally, while the former Editions is launching as Google eBooks, it 
>doesn't mean the company's ambition is limited to book-style 
>material only. While they have "nothing to announce" now on the 
>subject, Turvey says "it's fair to surmise that we're not looking to 
>stop with books with the platform."
>
>For more information, on Google's selling terms with publishers and 
>retailers, how they are dealing with agency, their retail pricing 
>strategies and practices, potential next moves from the ABA, more on 
>the features Google eBooks does (and doesn't) have, we have more 
>extensive detail in Publishers Lunch Deluxe.


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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