Google prepares enter the eBook market through its own unique door

May 5, 2010 - By Justin E. Gehrke

According to a Wall Street Journal report published on Tuesday, Google (GOOG) is planning to launch its own digital book sales venture as soon as June or July of this year. The news comes only a day after Apple released figures showing that its latest gadget, the iPad, had surpassed the million unit sales mark within a month of its release.

One of the most popular applications for the iPad, iBooks, is a direct competitor for both the Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle. Not to be left out, Google will offer its own version of the service, Google Editions. The company is banking on their unique method of offering titles, to help quickly catapult them to the forefront of the electronic book market.

The key difference between Google’s distribution scheme and all the rest is that Google will offer web-based reading, which will enable customers to access titles from multiple websites and with a number of different devices. Google’s sales model will allow users to search for titles and purchase them from both large retailers and smaller independent ones who will be able to offer eBooks via their own websites.

Google also plans to share the bulk of the revenue with book sellers, so how exactly will they benefit? If sales are able to surpass those of competitors, like Apple, who rake in 30% of the profit on eBooks sold on its devices, Google stands to profit, through sheer volume. Additionally, Google hasn’t ruled out developing their own device in the future. Launching the distribution service first may be a good way for Google to gauge the potential for success, in an already crowded market.

Ultimately, the fact that users of the service would require a Google account to access the service and would most likely be required to search via Google could result in another sharp spike in the use of the company’s already popular web services.

Source: Google Readies Its E-Book Plan, Bringing in a New Sales Approach