Google is planning on launching a new mobile feature for smartphones that will allow publishers and authors to instantly sell e-books at the click of a button.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is allegedly planning to launch a buy button that will accompany search results, but only on sponsored links that others have paid to put in front of Google’s natural search results—in other words, AdWords links. The buy button won’t appear for organic search results, nor will desktop users even get one at first.
According to PC World “When you click on the buy button for these ads, you’ll be taken to a Google-backed page where you can (possibly) customize whatever it is you were interested in: sizing or colors. Other retailers will actually sell the products; Google’s page will just handle the processing.”
I think having a buy it now button when a user is searching for a particular title holds tremendous value. Say, you are looking for California by Edan Lepucki. You can click on a buy it now from a Google Sponsored link and get options to buy it in print or e-book format, from a number of different retailers. The publisher and author both make money from the sale and the online bookstore also gets a cut.
Will digital bookstores, publishers and indie authors take advantage of the Google Buy Button? Its too soon to tell, but Google is making a strong case to advertise books and its appealing to the people who sell the books, the people who publish, or the writers that self-publish.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.