Google Play is celebrating its one year birthday today since it originally changed its entire online presence from the Android Market. Google’s branding shift was mainly attributed to having apps, books, videos, magazines, and other content housed under one roof, instead of individual apps acting as a gateway. It was confirmed today that in one year the paid ebook collection has grown by over one million titles to five million.
The expansion of ebooks has certainly been a priority with Google as the company seeks to gain credibility as a bookseller. The company has expanded, selling them to India, Brazil, Japan, and many European markets.
One of the big downfalls of the Google Books ecosystem under Google Play is the reliance on a tablet that is authorized with Google. The vast majority of tablets made in the last three years are not officially certified, which means customers cannot access Google Play or any of the company’s apps or services out of the box. In most cases, you can install Google Books manually from the Good e-Reader App Store, which makes things easier.
To celebrate this one year anniversary, Google is offering massive discounts on its 700,000 apps and ebook collection for the next few weeks. The deals vary from country to country, but you should be able to find something that works for you.
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.
