Google digital book Retail Program Vs Amazon Kindle

Search Engine major Google Inc has confirmed its plan to launch an e-book retail program by the end of this year. The program is designed to  enable the publishers showcase and sell digital version of their books directly to the consumers. The program will allow the readers to download content onto PCs and portable electronic devices. The digital book program comes as a part of Google’s initiative to advocate an open platform for reading and accessing books. The move puts Google Inc into a direct tussle with e-commerce giant Amazon.com that offers the wireless reading device, Kindle.

Google Inc Mountain View, Calif. made it clear that it aims to build a digital book ecosystem to ensure that its partner publishers to sell access to their titles, even without dedicated book readers such as Amazon’s Kindle or Sony Corp.’s (SNE) Reader.
According to the sources Google would be extending the service to those retailers who embed Google’s Preiews on their website.

Already Google runs a program that allows the publishers to provide their content in digital files of new and out-of-print books. Nearly 20 percent of the book’s content can be seen by the users in Google, for the rest they can follow the links from Google to online retailers like Amazon.com to buy the book. Once the ebook retail program is launched Google users will be able to purchase the ebooks directly from the search engine.

Google Vs Amazon: Comparison

Let me sight out instances where Google scores over Amazon

• Amazon.com’s ebook reader Kindle comes with a relatively high price tag of $359.  Only Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch runs the Kindle software.

• The ebooks downloaded from Amazon’s Kindle Store can only be read by those owning a Kindle. On the contrary, Google’s e-book program will be using the consumer electronics devices that most people already own.

• Amazon’s e-book pricing are highly unaffordable. For most of the best seller meant for Kindle charges $9.99. Google would allow the publishers to exercise control over how they set rates for their own ebook market.

Clearly, Google’s new program would appeal to all those publishers unhappy with Amazon.com’s pricing structure. Google seems all set to end Amazon’s monopoly over ebook retail market. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed, until Google launches its ebook retail program.