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Google buys online publishing firm eBook Technologies
Google is accelerating its push into the e-book space by acquiring online publishing company eBook Technologies in a move aimed at improving the reading experience on devices such as tablets and e-book readers. The acquisition comes just weeks after Google launched its own e-book store, called Google eBooks, and highlights the firm's efforts to gain a foothold in the digital books business. The e-book market, which is valued at close to USD1bn and tipped to grow dramatically in coming years, is currently dominated by Amazon.
Deal Details
- Status completed
- Buyer Google
- Seller eBook Technologies
eBook Technologies develops tools for creating, distributing and controlling content on portable reading devices. It currently offers services including an online "bookshelf" that lets users store purchased content, and software that converts content to the company's e-book format. Google has not said how it intends to use the firm's technology or disclosed any details about the deal. However, Google's eBook store could integrate a number of eBook Technologies' services in order to strengthen its offering.
The deal comes as competition in the e-book space continues to intensify. Analysts estimate that Amazon accounted for around 70% of the market last year. However, that is down from the 90% share it held in late 2009 and it is likely to decrease still further as new firms enter the lucrative market. Apple's iBookstore has already stolen some market share, and the launch of Google's store is likely to reduce Amazon's dominance still further due to its high reach, with Google's search engine attracting more than 190m monthly visitors in the US alone.
Google says it is hoping to boost sales by offering big discounts, while still paying publishers 52% of the list price. E-book pricing is a contentious subject, with publishers recently insisting that they, and not the retailers, should set the selling price of digital books. This has led to the price of many e-books being marked up to equal, or even higher, than print versions of the same title. Understandably, consumers revolted, questioning how publishers could justify the price point when the cost associated with producing a digital book is clearly lower than for producing a print book due to a reduction in printing and distribution costs.
The Google eBooks store is currently the largest on the market, offering users access to 3m titles, including around 2m free public domain titles. To date, Google has signed deals with around 4,000 publishers, including Penguin Group, Random House and Simon & Schuster, allowing Google to offer a number of new-release books, including recent bestsellers, for sale. The firm is also planning to add millions of out-of-print but copyrighted titles to its store. However, it is still awaiting federal court approval of a proposed USD125m settlement with US publishers and authors. The settlement faces stiff opposition, with publishers wary of Google's move into the industry and concerned that the firm will gain too much control over the market if it is approved.
