Internet search giant, Google, Inc., is flexing its digital muscle, and this time around, it has its eyes set on invading e-commerce space by offering e-books and other digital content. According to a report from zippycart.com, Google’s expansion into the electronic books business is a bid to match their controversial book search device. This foray into e-book territory is seen as a precursor to future plans of competing with e-book frontrunners—Amazon’s Kindle and more recently, the much hyped Apple iPad. Google’s version will be called Google Editions and according to an online report from The Wall Street Journal, it hopes to distinguish itself from the competition by allowing users to access data from a wider range of sites to a wider array of devices.
people see this development as “levelling the playing field.” While online retail isn’t exactly Google’s cup of tea, the internet giant is not new to selling online. Google has an online store for Android apps and sells software for businesses. It is also dipping its hands into the mobile phone industry with its very own Nexus One. The online report by Jessica Vascellaro and Jeffrey Trachtenberg also added that it looks like Google’s e-book service is off to a slow start, which can be seen through the relatively small following of its book search device. However, Google is hoping that book resellers will push and promote Google Editions. Separately, Google’s book search device is facing legal battle against the authors and publishers of the books that it hopes to distribute online.