Seeking greater visibility for its Book Search engine, Google are adding a new range of free tools to their book search service which will enable retailers, publishers and anyone who has a web site to insert books from the Google Book Search index.
Their aim is to make more connections between readers and books by offering site owners new ways to display full-text search results and even integrate personal features such as ratings, reviews and individuals book collections.
Following Google creating good relationships with a number of booksellers they are now able to provide a “Google Preview” application. This feature is now live on retailer sites across the globe, from Blackwell Bookshop in the UK to Livraria Cultura in Brazil. The preview allows potential buyers to virtually flick through pages, zoom in and out and browse up to 20% of the book without having to physically enter a store. The functionality of Google Preview also extends to online catalogs of the University of Texas, the University of California, and about 10,000 local and institutional libraries via the WorldCat.org service.
The next few weeks will see this function appearing on even more booksellers including Borders.com, Buy.com and Powell’s Books.
Google are not generating any money from book sales commissions or advertising. According to Tom Turvey, director of Google Book Search partnerships, Google believe these tools and partnerships further their quest to make books more discoverable on the Web, from search results to consumers favorite bookstores, publisher and author websites, online library catalogues, and social networks.