Google Book Search – The Good, The Bad, The Relevant

Perhaps you have heard of Google Book Search. Here’s what’s good about it, what might be bad about it, and how we as publishers still remain relevant.

What is Google Book Search? It is an online repository of all books that Goggle can get their hands on – from scanning library copies to digital or analog titles provided by publishers. In fact, Thomas Nelson is providing Google all the titles we can and we have started to be able to track sales to books we have in the program.

Here’s why Google Book Search is good:

Book Awareness – Every time someone is looking for information on a subject, Google’s powerful search engine looks at everything including books in the online repository. A book, instead of an online site, may be exactly what the searcher was looking for leading to a purchase. In other words, Google’s search engine acts like a big marketing machine, but we do not pay Google any marketing dollars in this scenario.

APIs – API stands for Application Programming Interface. Google’s API allows any site to implement a “Google Preview” button. It allows anyone any where to view our books right on their web site. Social networks, blogs, publishers and retailers can have the Google preview, which expands our marketing efforts.

Reporting – Google Book Search provides detailed data that can tell marketers a whole lot about who is interested in our books. For example, we will be able to see exactly what cities in the US are engaging in searches that lead consumers to our content. We can see the words consumers are using to find our content. This and other information Google Book Search provides us will help us to target our advertising dollars, such as relevant online communities for ads, etc.

There is, however, another side to Google that has some publishers worried. Some feel that Google is becoming their biggest content competitor, even though no more than 20% of the content can be viewed for free. Consumers can find the content they want quickly and never have to buy the product. – This is especially true for a generation satisfied with a few snippets of key information; perhaps not wanting to read an entire book.

How do we publishers maintain relevancy? We have to acquire, produce, organize and present content in a way that maximizes the consumer experience; better than Google can. Think about it…Google presents a listing of the various content around a set of key words. It is not organized for maximum effectiveness.

How do we publishers maximize the content’s effectiveness?

1. Choice: Give the consumer a choice. Make sure we are producing content in the format the consumer wants; book, e-book, video, audio, online, etc.
2. Media Rich Products: Produce media rich products that combine the various formats for the most impactful consumer experience.
3. Web-ready: Make sure all new titles are tagged in XML and ready for multiple format distribution.
4. Know Thy Customer: To do the above, you must really know your customer. The online communities we are starting to build will allow us to do that. (I will blog on that soon.)

Understanding the consumer, acquiring relevant content, and presenting it in its most compelling format is what we do as publishers. If we keep up with the technology, devices and online opportunities we will continue to be relevant. Our future is bright.